“Daisy Jones & the Six” — this book and series has been sweeping the nation since it came out. If there is anything that America loves, it’s music, bands and drama – luckily, this miniseries is about a dramatic band. The show spans decades. It’s a retrospective from the viewpoint of the band and just from the opening segment, I was excited to see how this show turns out.
The first thing I noticed in the first episode was how each member of the band was pretty welcoming to the interviewers, except for Sam Claflin’s character. All he asked was, “How long is this going to take?” and that was when I knew — he’s the one who is going to be the problem. He’s the one who is the Lindsey Buckingham in Stevie Ni– I mean, Daisy Jones’ story. The connections between the two bands are obvious, but that’s not a bad thing — after all, we live in a world where the Harry Styles fanfiction “After” became a very successful book and movie series. We live in a world where “Fifty Shades of Grey” became a book and movie series, though it started as “Twilight” fanfiction. I congratulate Taylor Jenkins Reid on her masterful fanfiction that has become so successful, even if it was just vaguely inspired by Fleetwood Mac.
Onto the show — each episode is 45 minutes long, which feels like a commitment, but they go by faster than expected. The show, with the “found footage” documentary-style, always leaves the audience waiting for what was coming next. After twenty years, the band has finally opened up about the dramatics — and it is a well-made wild ride.
From Daisy’s sad past to her rocky relationship with her bandmate Billy — Sam Claflin — to the use of drugs within the band and all the music in between, it’s no wonder the show has been so positively received. It encapsulates the idealist view of the 1970s music scene that modern audiences love so much. It covers the success story that Americans vibe with so heavily– the American dream, where a person can start from a garage band and sell out shows. Daisy says it best in episode one: “I mean, what a time to be alive if you loved music.”
Throughout the first few episodes, we get the backstory of each member of The Six. We get their roots and the essence of their characters. We understand their relationships with each other and how the band came to be. It’s nice that this is drawn out over multiple episodes– we get a vested interest in each character and their conflicts. These first few episodes are what good storytelling should be, though that talent doesn’t fade in the episodes following.
Daisy is clearly the main character, being the namesake of the band, and it’s wonderful to see her change from a relatively innocent woman who wants to make something out of herself into a confident performer and leader in the band. She’s complex in a way that some characters in this show aren’t. She sees people for who they are and she calls them out for it when she feels like it’s necessary. It’s clear from the very beginning that Daisy knows exactly who she is and she only grows, though she has ups and downs.
Billy, Sam Claflin, is a particularly conflicted character. He makes decisions that are typical of a rockstar thrust into fame, though the audience knows that it doesn’t make him happy. He gets caught up in the stardom and you hate him for it, though you know it’s good for the story. He’s a character you love to hate and love to love, even if you have trouble loving him. Multiple characters spiral in this way, though Billy is the one whose hits the hardest and is the worst for him, the audience and the characters around him.
Eddie is hard to tolerate, too. He wants to be Billy so badly — he wants to be the frontman, he’s “better at guitar than Billy,” he has had a crush on Billy’s wife since they were kids … he wants to be Billy and it can be so intolerable. He needs to understand that he’s not Billy. Eddie has a personal vendetta against Billy because he’s so jealous– even speaking up for the band and refusing some of Billy’s insights during the most vulnerable time of his life. It’s maddening. He thought he was going to be the one who had it all — the girls, the fans, the fame — and you can tell that he’s still bitter about it to this day.
The other characters are interesting, but not always captivating. Graham, Billy’s younger brother, is the catalyst for all that happens. He gets Billy to join the band in the first place and keeps the band going in dark times. Karen, the only other woman in the band and the keys player, offers experience to the band and a girl’s girl for Daisy. If Karen were alone, the band wouldn’t be as fleshed out. If Daisy were alone, she wouldn’t find comfort in the band from the beginning. Together, they have one of the most interesting dynamics between people in the band. The drummer, Warren, is happy-go-lucky and loves his job. He does his thing and enjoys it, finding the light in the dark. Without him, everything would seem dark.
Speaking of dark, I have one qualm that I can’t ignore — at times, the lighting is much too dark. Even the brightest setting on my computer screen and television isn’t enough for me to be able to see the details of each scene. It’s dark, it’s grungy, it’s the aesthetic … but girl, I can’t see. Use some better lighting please.
Overall, I’ve been obsessed with this show since I started watching it. The first episode was a great insight and captured my attention, but as the story unfolded and time passed, I only became more and more interested in the life that this show had taken on. I couldn’t wait for Daisy’s and the Six’s lives to converge and when it happened, I was not disappointed. As the band grew and as they devolved into madness, I remained captivated. This show is well done, enjoyable, everything I have been waiting for in a new show since the last new show I watched – I can’t even remember what it was. I felt like I was truly watching a documentary of a band that I grew up listening to and loving. I would recommend this show to anyone — and I will be recommending it to everyone I know.
