Amazon Prime Summary:
Following the rise of rock band Daisy Jones and The Six through the 1970s Los Angeles music scene on their quest for worldwide icon status.
FYA Summary:
Self-named Daisy Jones has always been obsessed with music and songwriting, but her solo work isn’t really going anywhere special until she’s introduced by a producer to The Dunnes, a band with middling success but no real “hit” to make it big. Sparks fly between Daisy and Billy as they clash for leadership and control over their song production, but sometimes the things we hate about other people are because we recognize them in ourselves… Billy and Daisy feel an undeniable pull to each other, but life choices, like Billy’s whole-ass family and Daisy’s out-of-control partying, keep them from finding any equilibrium.
The story takes you through their rises and falls to show you how Daisy Jones and the Six became one of the biggest bands in the world…that ended it all in a single night.
Familiar Faces:
Riley Keough as Daisy Jones
Apparently I have seen Riley in Logan Lucky and The Devil All the Time, but she didn’t have very large roles in those movies compared to this show. There’s something magnetic about Riley when she smiles that makes you understand why people would still talk to Daisy despite her being a hot, selfish mess with little regard for other peoples’ feelings. I did not like Daisy much for most of the show, but I did appreciate that she refused to play second fiddle to any man (I couldn’t be mad at her for pushing that one guy into the pool!).
Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne
I liked Billy even less than Daisy as he pompously went through life as a charmed white man. His saving grace is that he looked at Daisy like he wanted devour her, and it was still kind of hot even though them getting together would be a mess. In those moments Sam was a good fit for the role, but at other times—like when he’s supposed to portray Billy as a teenager or even a young man—he looked way too old for the part, and that wig they gave him was a travesty. Strangely, he looks younger in the ‘90s documentary talking-head segments (supposedly twenty years later!) than he does in the band’s hey-day.
Camila Morrone as Camila Dunne
I had no idea this was the Camila of the former girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio fame, but apparently so. Good for you for getting away from that man-child, Cammie! Like Riley, I found it hard to take my eye off Camila when she was on-screen because the woman is SO pretty! Camila Dunne, the long-suffering wife of a cheater and addict who loves her but not enough, is a delicate character to balance, but I think Morrone was able to keep her sympathetic and relatable, as I could understand why she stuck around even though she was WAY too good for all of this nonsense.
Suki Waterhouse as Karen Sirko
I would’ve liked more screentime for Karen, or for Karen and Daisy to get to hang out more, or for Karen, Daisy, and Camila to have a girls’ night. Honestly, there could’ve been a lot less Billy and a lot more of, like, any other character and that would’ve instantly been better. This would’ve solved the problem for me in that Daisy rarely ever interacted with anyone in the band but Billy, yet she kept claiming that they were “like a family” to her, but it was very “tell” and no “show”.
Timothy Olyphant as Rod Reyes
Again with the questionable, horrific wigs (this pic isn’t too bad, but the later wig…). Olyphant has a small role but he was one of my favorite characters. I will always feel for the punctual person who has to herd the cats around.
Sebastian Chacon as Warren Rojas
Sebastian isn’t really a familiar face, but he was my favorite Daisy Jones and the Six band member. I believe the actor also advocated for Warren to specifically be Latino in the show instead of a non-descript ethnicity (I assume he was white in the books) because he wanted there to be more representation.
Couch-Sharing Capability: Dealer’s Choice
It would certainly be fun to get together with some friends and watch this so you can comment on all the bad decisions and whether or not the styling really nailed the 1970s or was more 2000s-inspired hippie-chic, but I think it’s also a great, easy watch for when you’re going nowhere fast on the treadmill or can’t sleep in the middle of the night. Then just make sure you have someone else who also watched it, so you can text about the ending and what song is your favorite.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: I Wanna Be Sedated
I probably wouldn’t recommend you party as hard as the characters you’re watching (drugs are bad, mmkay?) but maybe if you’re a little buzzed you can understand the characters’ motivations better?
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Decent
I’m not usually crazy into bio-pics or non-stop drama-thons, but I do love a good real-life fake album or tie-in soundtrack. (See notable fake bands from throughout my life: Jem and the Holograms, Josie and the Pussycats, The Wonders.) I also love Fleetwood Mac, and while I wouldn’t say all the show music hits that vibe, I can appreciate what they were going for. Plus it makes me laugh how thinly veiled some of the references are, even though I don’t feel like the author has explicitly said her story was based off Stevie Nicks / Lindsay Buckingham.
While perhaps it would’ve made more sense to find actors who are also musicians, I did think it was fun that all the actors went to “rock star boot camp” for a few months before shooting where they learned to play their instruments and become a real band. (It makes me wish that someone was paying me to do something like that, haha.) My favorite songs off the soundtrack would have to be “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” (which my husband says sounds VERY reminiscent of “The Chain”) and “Let Me Down Easy” (so fun to sing along with), with honorable mentions going to “The River” (which sounds the most ‘70s-ish to me compared to some of the other songs) and “Regret Me” (also fun to shout-sing). Feel free to skip “Please”, it’s…very not good.
This show never really hits as hard as I think it could have—there is copious drinking and drug use and free love and even an overdose scare, and yet somehow it all felt kind of…sanitized? Perhaps it’s my cynicism—but at the same time, I don’t love misery-porn, so I was okay with not being wrung out emotionally after every episode.
The first few episodes spend too long keeping Daisy and Billy separate and focusing on the build-up to the band; like, newsflash, we’re all really here for the pining looks and fiery arguments, not to watch Billy boss around his brother’s band with his mercurial whims. This leaves the second half feeling more rushed than it had to be. Did I totally believe in how “world-famous” they were? Eh, not really. Did it then feel especially annoying when certain episodes would take breaks from the main plot to spend time with side characters? YES. (I actually really enjoyed all the time spent with Simone and her relationship struggles, but it felt out-of-place because Simone only really existed in the orbit of Daisy when we met her and then suddenly we’re focusing on her time in New York. Wha…?)
There’s been some rumblings and rumors of a second season, which I personally don’t think this needs (they do wrap up the entire book if you’re concerned, so any new season would be completely brand-new material) BUT if they did it right, then…I’d probably still watch.
We published this review during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. This work would not exist without the labor of writers and actors, and we support their goals.
