Never Let Him Go (Documentary)

Never Let Him Go is a four-part docuseries about the mysterious death of Scott Johnson, an openly gay academic whose naked body was found at the bottom of a cliff near Sydney in December, 1988, and the grueling, decades-long investigation his brother Steve launched to get to the bottom of the case spending over 30 years of his life to get the justice.

An American prodigy studying in Australia, Scott had a bright future ahead of him. But it was cut short when his body was found at the bottom of a cliff, naked and mutilated, with police concluding simply that Scott had committed suicide. Over the course of decades, however, multiple leads would come up that suggest Scott could’ve been one of the many hate crime victims whose violent and bias-motivated end went unacknowledged. In four efficiently edited, objectively studied yet emotionally told episodes, Never Let Him Go tracks this years-long affair and studies how it evolved from a simple unresolved mystery to a landmark case that exposes not just the sorry state the LGBTQ community was subjected to, but the complicated bureaucracy that comes with obtaining justice. The documentary empathizes with Scott Johnson and his family, who, for 30 years have relentlessly sought answers as to how and why, exactly, Scott died the way he did. The show has stories form what his partner thought, to Scott's siblings and friends. We hear testimonies from police members who investigated the case, the journalists who covered it and most importantly the whole focus is on Steve, understandably. In 2007 Steve hired a journalist-turned private investigator, Dan Glick, and over the next 15 years, the pair would poke and prod, charm and cajole in the hope of turning up new leads. Finally a man named Scott White was arrested in 2020. In January 2022, he pleaded guilty to the murder of Scott Johnson more than 33 years earlier. (He later changed his mind, had the murder conviction overturned on appeal, and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. In June this year he received a nine-year sentence.)

Given how long this case lasted (it was investigated three times), it makes sense to have this 4 part documentary almost of each one hour length. There is a lot of information being shared and the document series goes into extreme depths of what really happened. My only problem is the duration of the docs-series but as I have said before, I think this needed it.  The emotions involved in how Johnson kept the hope for justice alive, however, are readily apparent during his interviews, and the memories of Scott build a picture of a shy, brilliant guy who could have gone onto an amazing career if he hadn’t been killed. Steve’s relentless pursuit of justice is the spine of this tale, but it gains enormously from the participation of others who have good reason to shun the camera. The documentary shows how the police, at every stage, neglected to do what they should have done in the first place. Of course, homophobia is a big player here, too. This is a compelling piece of work as much about a society that allowed violence against gay men to flourish as it is about a grieving brother’s search for the truth. It’s well worth finding. Its a shame that HULU is not promoted this show. It deserves to be known. (6.5/10)