by Caylee Courtright
(Warning: this article contains spoilers)
New York Times Bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid has been making a name for herself in the entertainment industry as of late. A few of her books have landed movie and tv-show deals across multiple streaming platforms, and some are set to start streaming late this year and late next year. Her book, Daisy Jones and The Six, received thousands of raving reviews, and finally, four years after its book release, she’s partnered with Amazon Prime to release a limited series. Like most of her books, this story is historical fiction, set in the 1970s, telling the story of the rise and fall of the rock band Daisy Jones and The Six. When I originally read the book, I went to my phone to see if this band had existed, and unfortunately I was left disappointed. However, it just goes to show how intricate and detailed this book is.
The story of the band in the book and in the television series is told through a set of interviews and flashbacks following those interviews. Immediately , the viewer finds out that their story came to an end, and the band broke up. The purpose of this is to set the stage as to why the former rock stars are in this documentary. Fair warning – I will be giving spoilers!
The first three episodes tend to move very slowly. These episode tells the backstory of the band, and how they were once called the Dunne Brothers and were operating out of their garage. The band had a slow start, and were balancing school along with other things in their small town in Pittsburgh. The bands lead singer was the one and only Billy Dunne (played by Sam Claflin). Now, immediately within he first appearance in the show, I knew Billy was going to be a pain. The band started off as something fun for his little brother, Graham Dunne (Will Harrison), when Graham and his friends asked Billy for help. Billy had initially been invited to help the band find their sound and flow together better, but once he started helping, the band became his. I knew from that moment that the band was his and there would be issues with him being in control. And with his control, the band was starting to become popular around their area, performing at local events. The show makes the absence of Billy and Graham’s father seem as if it will play a large part in the rest of the story, when in reality it just plays a minor role in the first couple of episodes. At one of the Local events, he discovers that his father is there in the crowd, dancing with a woman that’s a lot younger than him. They have a scuffle, then transitioning the band becoming closer as a whole. It didn’t really play much of a role in the development of the show – it was so minor that it really wasn’t necessary.
The viewer is then introduced to the one and only, Daisy Jones. Now, Daisy Jones is played by Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, so I knew that this was going to be good. It’s in her blood. Daisy Jones had been very neglected as a child, which once again I knew was going to be the source of a lot of issues within Daisy’s life and how she forms relationships. Her parents never really paid attention to her, and when she was extremely young, she would wander The Strip in LA, popping in to clubs to listen to music. It was clear that music became an anchor, something to keep her occupied. Her love of writing music seemed to develop from there.
In terms of the music of the show, TJR had penned songs in the book, but the producers of the show wanted the band to seem as close to an actual band from this time period, so they penned an entire debut album for this fictional band (which I’m listening to as I’m writing this -I recommend the songs “Look At Us Now” and ‘Please”). This is interesting because the two leads in the show have very little experience with music, so the actors had to attend an intensive 6-8 month band camp. I will say, the album, as a whole, was really well done.
Now, back to the story. Once the band begins to make a name for themselves in their area, Billy ends up getting recognized. This, of course, inflates his ego, so much so that he flirts with a woman named Camilla and mistakes her for a stalking fan. She was familiar with the band but was simply there to wash her clothes. THere, we’re introduced to a huge piece of the entire series -Billy’s relationship with Camilla. Everything moved very quickly with them, and in the beginning they really were a great couple. He anchored her, and she anchored him. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. Later in the show, the band speaks with a club owner who tells them that if they really want to make it big, they have to make the move to LA. In turn, one of the band members quits the band, telling them that he doesn’t want to chase fame that may or may not happen. This is different from the book – in the book, this band member of the band is sent to fight in Vietnam and is killed. I’m not to sure why they changed this. I feel this would’ve suited the reality of the events happening at the time.
Camilla and Billy’s relationship is starting to develop, so they find themselves wondering if Camilla will go with the band or stay. Camilla is a photographer, so she starts to make a name for herself while photographing the band. While I think Camilla was a great character and a crucial part of the show, I think the casting of the show could’ve been so much better. The actress, Camila Monroe, looks like she’s 20 years old the entire show, where as the rest of the band in the interview sequences look like they’ve aged.
Meanwhile, Daisy and her new friend Simone Jackson are making their own names after they meet at a party in LA. Daisy is lonely and their relationship begins to develop, showing how close they are. Daisy pens a few songs, and one of the guys she’s been seeing takes a look at her song book to discover a song she wrote called Stumbled on Sublime. Unfortunately, he stole her song, in which that song shot up to number one in the country. In the beginning, Daisy’s personality was somewhat tolerable, but it only snowballed from there. The show and the book portray Daisy as this broken soul, dependent upon the approval and affection of Billy, and she craves that affection due to simply the fact that she never received it. However, this other side of her is shown – this incredibly irritating part that needs to be right all of the time. This may seem like something controversial to say, but her independence almost makes her toxic. There seems to be an effort to make her out as someone who is independent and needs no one’s approval, when in reality she spends the majority of the show pining after a healthy relationship.
By episode 5, all hell has broken loose. The band eventually makes it to LA, and we’re introduced to Karen Sirko, a keyboardist that Graham takes a liking to. She’s a part of a different band, but she knows that the band she’s in isn’t going anywhere and takes up their proposition to join their band, since they’ve been doing so well in the shows they’ve done in LA. The episode also follows a producer named Teddy Price, who the band makes an effort to try to be around. Teddy doesn’t want anything to do with them at the time. Daisy is also doing shows around the area, which Teddy does take a liking to, and he practically begs her to record a demo with him, but Daisy refuses. The audience knows that she craves being on the stage, which is why I find it so odd that she’s portrayed as if she’s above it all. She claims she’s “no one’s muse,” and doesn’t want to be confined to the legal jargon of a contract but craves being on stage. One of the pieces of the book that translates over to the show is that Daisy had pretty much everything handed to her all of her life, except for love. I find it odd that she refuses the contract. One thing about her – she acts like she’s above everyone else when it comes to her being independent. It’s not commendable, it’s toxic, and actually a little sad.
After months of stalking, the band gets Teddy to listen to them, and they earn themselves a record deal. One thing I will appreciate about the band is that they actually had to work hard for what they have, when Daisy just ended up joining them when things were going well later on in the show. The band then lands a small tour, when Camila finds out she’s pregnant. Billy is stunned, but Camila encourages him to go on the tour anyway.
As with any show set in the 70s, drugs and alcohol are pretty romanticized – everyone is doing them every second of the show. Billy’s slip into his addiction hits hard, and it starts affecting the band’s performance on stage. One show becomes the breaking point when Billy stumbles around the stage, mixing up the words. Camila shows up to surprise the band, where she finds Billy high and cheating on her, and she essentially slaps him into shape. One thing I love about Camilla is her command and force that she has over Billy and the rest of the band, despite not being in the band. She serves as a maternal figure to the rest of the band, and I think the band lasted twice as long as they should’ve simply because of Camilla.
Back on tour, Teddy shows up to tell Billy that Camilla is in labor. Teddy hadn’t seen Billy’s condition since before they left, so he’s stunned. He tells Billy to get his act together and go see the birth of his daughter, but Billy refuses, embarrassed of his condition. The first trio of episodes end with Billy going into rehab, and the tour being canceled.
Another thing I will say about the show is that there is so much going on in each episode, but also it doesn’t feel like it. It only feels like a lot when I’m explaining it, but when sitting down to watch the show, the audience is often left waiting for the moment when Daisy and the rest of the band finally team up. This show is really well done, and the music is phenomenal. However, stay tuned for the next part, where I’ll dive into the rest of the show, giving condensed reviews of the show as a whole.