Sydney Studer
Daisy Jones and the Six
On March 3, Amazon Prime Video released the first three episodes of Daisy Jones and the Six, the mini-series adaptation of the popular Taylor Jenkins Reid novel of the same name. The story follows a 70’s rock band and their rise to fame through a documentary-style narration. As someone who read the book and absolutely loved it, I was so excited to see the series. The 70’s music, clothing, and overall atmosphere looked amazing in the trailer, so I had high expectations for the series before watching itgoing in. So, after watching the series in its entirety, here are my thoughts on the new series, and its relationship to the book.
First off, I wholeheartedly believe that the casting for this show was perfect. Riley Keough (aka Elvis’ granddaughter) is an amazing Daisy Jones and conveys her fiery energy and craziness perfectly. She is exactly like how I pictured Daisy to be when I read the book. Sam Claflin (frontman Billy Dunne) and Camila Morrone (Billy’s wife Camila) have amazing chemistry and make the audience feel for their characters. But the actors who really stole the show are the supporting characters. Will Harrison (guitarist Graham Dunne) and Suki Waterhouse (keyboard player Karen Sirko) portray their characters wonderfully and have amazing romantic tension. Josh Whitehouse plays bassist Eddie Roundtree, a more cynical character with a strong rivalry with Claflin’s Billy Dunne. Outside of the band, Nabiyah Be plays disco pioneer Simone Jackson. My favorite thing about Simone in the show is how much more the story is focused on her as opposed to the book, where she is a side character and nothing else. But, by far, my favorite character in the show has to be drummer Warren Rojas, played by Sebastian Chacon. He is the hilarious comedic relief character who is just there for the ride and is pretty removed from any drama in the story. Overall, everyone plays their characters so well while paying homage to their book counterparts.
Another important aspect of the show was the hair, makeup, and costumes that transport the audience to the 70s. Part of the show involves the characters in an interview 20 years later, and the hair and makeup are really spot-on. All of the actors look much older than they really are and age in a way that makes sense for each of their characters. But the 70’s clothing and hair are what really stood out to me. The clothing fits really well for each cast member, and all of the characters’ clothes are super era-appropriate. The issue with most TV shows and movies that are set in a certain decade is that the fashion and styles don’t really match or aren’t accurate. But Daisy Jones and the Six doesn’t have this problem at all. The hair and makeup is also awesome and very decade appropriate. I especially loved Daisy’s hair and makeup evolution as the story goes on, the band becomes more famous, and she becomes more unhinged.
By far, my favorite thing about the new miniseries is the music. In the novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid does an amazing job of making the songs and the band seem real. Like many, I went straight to Google after reading the book and had to remind myself that the band and the songs were all fictional. So it was quite the task for the series to make these fictional songs real. And it does an amazing job of doing so! All of the songs are so well-written and performed by the cast. And you just tell that so much work was put into the singing by both Riley Keough and Sam Claflin, both of whom hadn’t sung before doing the show. I also think that it’s really cool that the entire cast went through weeks of band camp to learn their instruments and basically be able to play everything themselves. So the real question is: Will there be a Daisy Jones and the Six tour in the future? If so, I will be first in line for tickets. In terms of the songs themselves, they are all great, but my personal favorites are “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb),” “The River,” and “More Fun To Miss.” These songs are heavily focused on in the novel, so I was really excited to hear them in the show. All of these songs are incredibly catchy and enjoyable to listen to, and so much of that has to do with Riley Keough’s amazing vocal performance.
If I had to critique the show, I would say that there are lots of liberties taken with the plot. In the novel, there are actually seven members of the band (hence Daisy Jones and the SIX). But the character of Pete Loving is completely taken out of the show, and Camila (Billy’s wife) is the honorary seventh member of the band. But, for the most part, the changes made in the show are actually good ones, like changing the timeline of some things to make the story move faster and making Simone and Warren bigger roles. Speaking of Simone and Warren, there have also been some changes to their characters’ identities in the show that make itthe show much more inclusive. In the novel, Warren’s last name was Rhodes, but when Sebastian Chacon was cast, the name was changed to Rojas. Chacon has been very open about how he tried to include as much of his Latin heritage in the character, playing the drums with timbale sticks and wearing traditional Mexican fabrics and Aztec necklaces. In an interview with Insider, he said, “I did a lot of research trying to see if there was a white, American band that had a Latin anything. And they don’t”. By including his own heritage in the character, Chacon was able to portray “this special thing”. In the show, Simone’s character is queer, something that was never included in the novel. Nabiyah Be, who plays Simone, said, “It was part of the movement, it was part of why the music was so relevant. So making Simone a queer character and having her be the pioneer, the face, and one of the fundamental aspects of this genre coming to life, I thought was super important”. So, I’m definitely not one of those people who is like “It has to be like the book or else I won’t like it” because most of the changes made for the show are just adding to the source material.
Overall, this show is really great and is a wonderful book to screen adaptationadaption. Everything from the cast to the music to the fashion is all amazing. The plot is original and disproves anyone who thinks that it’s just a Fleetwood Mac-inspired story when it has a plot with its own originality. So, I will scream this from the rooftops: Daisy Jones and the Six is easily the best book-to-screen adaptation I have ever seen, and I will be playing “Aurora” on repeat for a while!