Have you read Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid and are looking for a full plot summary, spoilers, or a discussion of the ending? Are you watching the Daisy Jones & the Six Movie on Amazon and want to know the differences between the Daisy Jones & the Six book and the Amazon Prime streaming series? What changed between the Daisy Jones book and the show? Welcome to Daisy Jones & The Six: Spoilers and Movie Review.
Daisy Jones & The Six: Spoilers and Movie Review
Let’s talk all about Daisy Jones & The Six. Here’s what is in this post:
Table of Contents for Daisy Jones & The Six Spoilers and Movie Review
What is Daisy Jones & the Six About?
Characters in Daisy Jones & The Six (Book and Movie)
Plot Summary of Daisy Jones & The Six (Book)
Daisy Jones & The Six Ending Book Explained and Spoilers
Daisy Jones & The Six Streaming Series: cast photos, release date and more!
UPDATED in March 2023: Daisy Jones & the Six Movie Review:
What are the differences Between the Daisy Jones & the Six Book and the Amazon Prime series? You can read the entire plot summary of the book (annotated for the show) OR if you are just looking for the MAIN differences, go straight here!
What Is Daisy Jones & the Six About?
Told in interview format, Daisy Jones & The Six is the story of the rise and spectacular implosion of a hugely popular fictional band in the 1970s. There’s a dramatic love triangle and a LOT of angst.
The book takes place around 2018, four decades after the band’s breakup, while the series flashes back and forth between the 1970s and the 1990s.
Characters in Daisy Jones & The Six
Band members
Daisy Jones: rich girl, wild child, singer songwriter
Billy Dunne: Pittsburgh native and the lead singer of the Dunne Brothers, then The Six, then co-lead singer of Daisy Jones & the Six
Graham Dunne: lead guitarist for The Six
Warren Rhodes: drummer for The Six. Married movie star Lisa Crowne after the band broke up. (Named Warren Rojas in the series).
Eddie Loving/Eddie Roundtree: Pete’s brother who steps in as guitarist after Chuck is drafted. (called Eddie Roundtree in the movie)
Karen Sirko: joins the Six as a keyboardist. Formerly in The Winters.
Chuck Williams: original rhythm guitarist for the Six. Was drafted and is replaced by Eddie. (Quits to go to dental school in the series)
Pete Loving: bassist (NOT in the series)
Family and Colleagues of the Band
Camila Martinez Dunne: married to Billy Dunne
Rod Reyes: manager of The Six.
Teddy Price: producer for Runner Records, the label for both Daisy Jones, The Six, and the merged bands.
Artie Snyder: lead engineer for The Six (not in the series)
Rich Palentino: CEO at Runner Records (doesn’t seem to be in the series, or was re-named)
Hank Allen: Daisy’s manager in the early 70s (not in the series)
Niccolo “Nicky” Argento/Nicholas “Nicky” Fitzpatrick: Daisy’s husband (Called Nicky Fitzpatrick in the series).
Freddie Mendoza: celebrity photographer (might be in the series, but not named that I could see.)
Jonah Berg: rock journalist who follows the band on tour and writes about them for Rolling Stone.
Other Musicians
Simone Jackson : disco star, briefly Daisy’s roommate. Becomes famous in 1974.
Wyatt Stone: lead singer of the Breeze, dated Daisy in her teens and she helped him with his lyrics
Jim Blade: lead singer of Mi Vida and Daisy’s boyfriend in the early 70s.
Rick Yates: heroin snorting rock singer who gets Billy into heroin (doesn’t seem to be in the series)
Mick Riva: hard partying rock star who shows up at Daisy’s house in 1977 and joins a party there. (Doesn’t seem to be in the series).
Lola LaCava: Daisy’s alias (not in he series)
Characters in the Series But ( I Think) Not the Book
Bernie: Simone’s female collaborator and lover
Tobias: works at the recording studio
Don Midleton: is he the replacement for Rich Palentino, the CEO of Runner Records?
Plot Summary of Daisy Jones & The Six (BOOK)
Daisy Jones & the Six is told in an epistolary format. The book takes place around 2018, as a reporter interviews members of the band, journalists, other musicians and more.
The timeline of the book spans the 1960s through the 2010s. At the end of the post, I’ll link to my master timeline of all Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books!
The timeline of the series is different (from the 1960s-1990s) so the book dates will NOT correspond. Because the book is divided into sections by date, I am leaving those.
1965-1972 (Approximately Episode One in the series)
Daisy Jones grows up in L.A. She’s the child of artists who are focused on their work and don’t pay much attention to her. As a teen, she sneaks into bars and clubs. She has insomnia and loves to read.
In the series: Daisy’s parents are more abusive. In her teens, Daisy is assaulted by a rock star who invites her to his hotel room.
Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Billy Dunne and his brother Graham form a band in the late 60s.
In 1969, Billy meets Camila in the hotel where he and his band are playing a a wedding and she is working as a cocktail waitress. (In the series, they meet cute in a neighborhood laundromat.)
1972-1974: (Episode one in the series)
In the book:
Daisy starts writing songs. In 1972, she’s invited onstage by her then boyfriend, Jim Blades, to sing with him. She’s seeing a lot of guys, living at Chateau Marmont, getting free designer clothes, thinking about making a demo.
Daisy signs with Runner Records but is more interested in songwriting. She begins to experiment with drugs.
Meanwhile, The Six is recording their debut album and living together in a house in Topanga Canyon. There’s a bit of tension between Billy and the rest of the group over the direction of the album. The group experiments with mescaline and peyote.
In the series Daisy is less of a fabulous It Girl and more of an aspiring singer-songwriter. She’s left her unsupportive parents and is trying to make it on her own.
Billy and the band decide they have to move to L.A. to have any chance of succeeding. In the series, aspiring photographer Camilla comes along and is part of things right off.
The Six releases a debut album (Approximately Episode two in the series)
In 1973, Camila finds out she’s pregnant and she and Billy get married. The band heads out on tour, without Camila, and they drink heavily, do drugs, and sleep with fans.
Camila comes to surprise Billy and walks in on him with a girl. She tells him to straighten himself out before the baby comes. Their daughter Julia is born in November 1973.
In early 1974, Billy spends two months in rehab at Camila’s insistence. In the series, Teddy is more the driving force and is more explicitly a father figure for Billy, whose own father left the family.
1974-1975: (Book only)
Daisy refuses to cut the album the record executives want, putting her in breach of contract with Runner Records. She wants to record her own songs, but Teddy Price tells her that none of her songs are ready to record.
Daisy finally agrees to make the record they want, and her debut album, First, is released in early 1975.
None of this really happens in the series. Daisy is trying to write songs and make a demo, but she’s struggling. She doesn’t make her own album or get sued.
1975-1976 (Approximately Episode Three in the series)
Billy is writing songs for a new album. Runner Records doesn’t feel like any of the songs are hit singles. Teddy wants to make one of the songs, Honeycomb, a duet sung by Billy and Daisy.
Billy is annoyed that Daisy changes his lyrics. Billy’s version of the lyrics is a promise to Camila for the future, Daisy’s version turns promises into uncertainty.
Daisy’s version of Honeycomb is a hit, but the band tours and performs without inviting her.
In the series: Pretty much the same. Daisy hears Honeycomb in Teddy’s office and has ideas about how to make it better. Teddy forces a recording session with The Six and Daisy. Billy (who doesn’t know that Daisy has changed his lyrics with Teddy’s permission) is arrogant and rude to Daisy.
1976-1977 (Approximately Episode four in the series)
The Six releases SevenEightNine in 1976, an album that includes Honeycomb, featuring Daisy Jones. Daisy is in a club where The Six is performing and she and Billy sing their duet.
In the series, this small paragraph above is about all of episode four, which is about the band finally finding some success due to Honeycomb. The band hears their hit single on the radio for the first time and receives royalty checks. The Six are invited to a music festival and Daisy comes along to sing Honeycomb. She’s excited to be on stage and kind of forces her way into their entire set, enraging Billy but making the crowd go wild.
Daisy is the opening act for The Six’s World Tour, Numbers, in 1976. Camila, pregnant with twins, and Julia come along. There is no such tour in the series.
Daisy is doing a lot of cocaine balanced out with sleeping pills. Billy struggles to stay sober. Hank, her manager, supplies her with drugs.
Graham and Karen start a relationship. Daisy fights with Hank and her band walks out. Eddie and Billy are also feuding.
Daisy Makes a Move (This happens in Episode 6)
Daisy and Billy are getting along better. She invites him to her room, but he declines.
Jonah Berg, a journalist, writes a Rolling Stone article saying that Daisy is integral to The Six. The band discusses letting Daisy join them. They decide to ask if she’ll make an album with them. Daisy elated and high on cocaine, breaks into her parent’s house.
Billy and Camila’s twins, Susana and Maria, are born. Graham moves in with Karen. (None of this happens in the series)
The Six and Daisy start work on their album, but there’s disagreement about how rock or how pop the album should be. Teddy renames the group Daisy Jones & the Six.
1977-1978 (Approximately Episodes Five and Six)
In August 1977, the band starts recording Aurora. Billy has written twelve songs and Daisy has a notebook full of ideas.
The group does agree to center the album around Billy’s song, Aurora. But Daisy tells Billy she’s not recording an entire album about Camila. She also tells him that Wyatt Stone stole her song.
Billy and Daisy argue about her substance abuse issues and they try to write together. Daisy has strong concepts and imagery, and Billy is better at song structure.
Eddie and Karen want a say as well, and there is conflict.
Crossover character Mick Riva shows up (not in the series as of Episode 6)
The group is hanging out at Daisy’s cottage at Chateau Marmont, recording and hanging out. Mick Riva shows up. He’s in his forties, married multiple times, with five kids and still hard-partying.
The night gets crazier and more alcohol and drug-filled. Mick is making out with underage groupies. Simone shows up.
Both Daisy’s obsession with Billy and her drug problems intensify (Episode 6)
Daisy jumps into the pool, floating in an expensive caftan and someone takes an iconic photo of her. She steps on broken glass and both Simone and Billy are concerned about her self-destructiveness.
Billy leaves and writes a song, Impossible Woman. The next day, Daisy tries to sing it but her lack of training gets her frustrated. Billy encourages her and she’s able to sing it.
Camila confides in Karen about how hard it is to shoulder all the parenting, and Karen confides in Camila about Graham. Camila is worried that Karen will break Graham’s heart.
Daisy and Billy keep writing songs. Eddie feels bitter that there’s no way for him to collaborate. The band gets more concerned about Daisy’s substance abuse.
Daisy and Billy: Will They or Won’t They?
One night while writing, Daisy tries to kiss Billy, but he pulls away. (Happens in a parking lot in the series.)
Camila overhears Billy on the phone telling Graham that Daisy has got to go. (This doesn’t happen in the series).
Daisy writes a song, “Regret Me,” that Billy refuses to record but the rest of the band outvotes him. (In the series, the song Billy refuses to sing is Look at Us Now (Honeycomb).
The cover of the new album, Aurora, features only Daisy and Billy. The rest of the band notices. (Doesn’t happen in the series.)
The album is finished. Daisy heads to Thailand. She meets Niccolo Argento, who takes her to Italy and convinces her to get married. (In the series, she meets Nicky, who is Irish, in Italy.)
The series corresponds pretty closely with the 1976-77 and 1977-78 sections of the book with only minor changes.
1978: The Interview and Aurora
The band gets together to listen to the album. Eddie and Karen upset that most of their contributions got cut. It’s also time to do press and a tour.
Simone drags Daisy back to L.A. Everyone is concerned that Nicky not only enables but encourages Daisy’s drug use. Niccolo tells Billy to stay away from Daisy. (This happens in Episode 7).
Jonah Berg interviews Daisy and she tells him about her complicated relationship with Billy. She also tells him that Billy cheated on Camila, went to rehab for heroin addiction, and missed the birth of his daughter.
Billy begs Jonah not to print that and, in return, offers another story: he and Daisy despise each other. He also says that Daisy’s talent is wasted on her. (In the series, this happens earlier, in episode six, and is used as the reason that Daisy runs off and gets married, which makes a lot of sense.)
Episode six of the series ends here.
In June 1978, the Aurora album comes out.
1978-1979: A Tour and a Breakup (Approximately Episode 8 in the series)
The band tours on two buses, a white bus with Daisy and Niccolo on it and a blue one with Billy. After each performance, Billy goes back to his hotel room and the band goes out to party.
Daisy falls asleep smoking and sets a hotel room on fire. Billy and Camila buy a huge house in Malibu. (Doesn’t happen in the series).
Pete marries his girlfriend Jenny and quits the band. (Pete isn’t in the series)
Nicky and Daisy take a brief trip to Italy, on which accuses Daisy of sleeping with Billy. They have a violent argument and Daisy wakes up in the shower. (Episode 8 of the series ends here.)
Nicky says he thought she might have OD’d. Daisy can’t believe he didn’t call for help and leaves him to fly back to the states, asking the hotel concierge to leave him a message that she wants a divorce. (In the series, she throws him out of the hotel.)
“Turn it Off” wins record of the year at the Grammys.
During the tour, Karen found out she was pregnant. She told Camila she doesn’t want a baby, and then told Graham. They have a huge argument over what to do, with Graham telling her to think it over. (Happens in Episode 9-10).
Daisy Admits She’s in Love With Billy (Episodes 9-10)
Billy and Daisy’s relationship improves. Daisy realizes she is in love with Billy. He is also very drawn to her but decides Camila and his family are more important to him.
Daisy asks Billy to help her get sober, and he is trying to talk her into rehab. Says Teddy will take her.
Teddy Prince dies of a heart attack. (Thankfully, this does not happen in the series.)
Daisy decides against rehab and the band goes back out on the road to distract themselves from their sadness. Karen and Graham argue again about the pregnancy, with Karen asking him if he intends to quit the band and raise the baby.
Daisy feels tortured to have to sing with the man she’s in love with and can’t have. Billy feels he can’t make another album without Teddy.
Camila takes Karen to a clinic for an abortion.
July 1979: Chicago
Daisy sings the lyrics to Honeycomb the way Billy wrote them, as a gesture that she is giving him up. That he is Camila’s. (This doesn’t happen in the series. See below.)
Graham finds out about Karen’s abortion.
Billy doesn’t know what to do about Daisy and Camila. He goes to the hotel bar and orders a tequila. A fan comes up to him.
Daisy goes to her room but is high and can’t find her key. (Not in the series, though she does go on a big coke binge in Episode 10).
Daisy Jones & The Six Ending and Spoilers
The Interviewer is Revealed
The interviewer of the book intrudes and we realize that Billy and Camila’s daughter Julia is the one conducting all the interviews.
Camila seems to have died during the interview process, as Julia says in the prologue that the interviews took eight years. Camila died in 2012 and the book takes place about six years after that.
Julia remembers being five years old and recalls Camila opening the door for Daisy.
Daisy says Camila helped her inside and got her water. She then told Daisy that although she knows Billy loves Daisy, he would never leave his family. (Doesn’t happen in the series).
Camila says that she wants Daisy to be happy and that to do that, Daisy needs to leave the band. She tells Daisy that her favorite song by the band is A Hope Like You, the song that Daisy wrote, and that she is rooting for her to succeed.
Billy drinks the tequila.
Daisy Leaves for Good
The next morning, Daisy is gone. Graham and Karen aren’t speaking to each other. Billy announces he needs a break from touring. Pete is leaving. Eddie doesn’t like working with Billy.
Daisy tells Julia that she left the band because Camila asked her to. And that itw as the best thing she ever did. And that she’s so sorry that Camila died.
What Happened to the band after 1979?
Camila died in 2012 at age sixty-three of heart failure caused by lupus. (No cause of death given in the series. Perhaps cancer.)
Daisy went to rehab, adopted kids, wrote books and started a charity.
Pete, Graham, and Warren all got married and had kids.
Eddie is a record producer. (In the series he starts a band.)
Simone had a daughter, Trina, who is a famous musician. (No daughter in the series. Simone and Bernie open a club together.)
Karen played in different bands and retired in the 90s.
Billy became a songwriter. He and Camila built their dream house in North Carolina.
November 2012
Camila sent an email to her daughters saying after she dies, to please tell Billy to get in touch with Daisy. She says that he and Daisy owe her a song. (In the series, she says this in an interview with Julia.)
Daisy Jones & The Six Movie News: Cast and Release Date
Three of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books (that we know of) have been optioned: Daisy Jones & The Six for Amazon, The Seven Lives of Evelyn Hugo for Netflix, and Malibu Rising for Hulu.
The Daisy Jones & The Six series was released on Amazon Prime Video! The first three episodes came out on March 3, 2023, and new episodes will release each Friday.
What we know:
Daisy Jones & The Six is a ten episode series.
The series is a collaboration between Hello Sunshine and Amazon Studios
The pandemic shut the production down in 2020 for a year and half but filming re-started in fall 2021 and was completed in March 2022.
Here’s the main cast:
Differences Between Daisy Jones & The Six book and series
What changes were made from the Daisy Jones & the Six book to the movie? Let’s discuss
I’ll go through episode by episode and I hope that you will let me know in comments if I missed anything AND what you think of the show, the show versus the book, or whatever else is on your mind!
EPISODE ONE CHANGES: Daisy Jones & the Six Track 1: Come and Get It
Change #1: the timeline
In the book, the characters were born in the 1950s and the book takes place in the late 2010s, when the characters are in their 60s.
For the series, that timeline was obviously not going to work without casting completely different actors to play the 1960s and 70s characters (who are in their 20s and 30s) and the 2010s characters (in their 60s).
So the interview format is the same, but the “present” is in the late 1990s, so the characters are only in their 40s. In the book, Daisy was born in 1951, so she’d be around 46-47 in the interviews.
In the book, the band breaks up in 1979 and in the series, it’s 1977.
Change #2: Daisy’s teenage years
In the series, Daisy’s parents aren’t just busy and neglectful (as in the book) but her mother is downright emotionally abusive.
In the book, Daisy is a bit of a rich party girl. In the series, she’s more of a poor little rich girl. There’s also a scene where she goes to a concern around fifteen and is either assaulted or coerced into sleeping with a successful musician.
This was interesting to me as I thought it provided more rationale for Daisy’s serious drug addiction issue that will develop later in the show AND gives her character more anger at being treated like a disposable groupie rather than a talented singer-songwriter.
Change #3: The Six Have Become … the Five?
In the book, there were six band members (Billy, Graham, Pete, Warren, Eddie, and Karen).
In the book, Chuck Williams is drafted and dies in Vietnam. He’s replaced by Eddie Loving.
In the series, Chuck Williams and Eddie Loving get combined into one character: Chuck Loving. Then “Chuck” quits the band to go study dentistry and Billy asked Eddie to take his place
Change #4: A Few Name, Race, and Nationality Changes
Daisy is a nickname for Margaret in the series.
Warren Rhodes become Warren Rojas in the series.
Eddie Loving becomes Eddie Roundtree in the series.
Karen is British in the series.
Teddy Price is a white British guy in the book and a Black American guy in the series.
Change #5 Camila and Billy’s Meet Cute
In the book, Billy and Camila meet at a hotel during a wedding. In the series, they have a more wholesome meet cute at the neighborhood laundromat.
Also, in the series, Graham has a crush on Camila, which intensifies the rivalry between the brothers.
EPISODE TWO CHANGES: Daisy Jones & The Six Track 2: I’ll Take You There
Change #1: Daisy the Relatable Girl
In the book, Daisy is a bit of a rich It Girl. She lives at Chateau Marmont, a very exclusive bungalow hotel in West Hollywood, and gets clothes sent to her by designers just because she’s so fabulous. She’s drop-dead gorgeous and a naturally talented singer. She’s a bit spoiled and gets a record deal easily, then gets sued for breach of contract when she and her label are fighting about her album.
In the first part of the series, Daisy waitresses and is more of a relatable struggling songwriter. Teddy is interested in her but she struggles to write songs. She has ideas and lyrics but doesn’t seem to have any real musical training.
Change #2: Camila the Band Manager .. and the Sixth Band Member?
In the book, Billy leaves Camila in Pittsburgh to go to L.A. with the guys.
In the series, Camila is an aspiring photographer who comes along to L.A. and tries to help the band get bookings. When they are trying to come up with a name, the guys say that they can’t be “the Five” because of the Jackson Five, but seem to consider Camila one of the band.
Change #3: Teddy makes Billy go to rehab
I’m pretty sure that in the book, Camila insists on it. But in the series, Teddy takes Billy there, and pays for it.
Change #4: In the series, Daisy doesn’t get a record contract and then get sued by Runner Records for breach of contract.
In the series, Daisy meets Teddy through Simone and is trying to write songs. Again, Daisy in episodes one through three of the series is much less of a spoiled rich girl.
EPISODE THREE CHANGES: Daisy Jones & the Six Track 3: Someone Saved My Life
Change #1: The Six Get Dropped by Their Label
In the series, when Billy goes to rehab and the tour gets cancelled, the label drops them. Billy and the band are MUCH more desperate in the series. Working with Daisy is sort of their only hope at getting back on track. I thought this was a good change!
Change #2: More Tension Between Billy and the band
In the book, The Six are more successful and Billy has a big ego. In the series, the band is disappointed in Billy for having to go to rehab and tanking their tour.
EPISODE FOUR CHANGES: Daisy Jones & the Six Track 4: I Saw The Light
Episode Four incorporates some elements of the 1976-77 section, but is mostly about The Six finding success thanks to Honeycomb … and Daisy.
Change #1: Daisy continues to have a slightly different character arc
In the book, Daisy is always a bit of a diva. I like that in the series, she starts out the relatable girl, as described above, and then you can see fame go to her head a little. She forces herself on stage at the Hawaii festival appearance and behaves like a bit of a brat.
EPISODE FIVE CHANGES: Daisy Jones & The Six Tracks 5: Fire
Episodes Five and Six correspond pretty closely to the 1977-78 section of the book.
Change #1: Daisy is just a struggling songwriter and the Six are a struggling band
In the book, Daisy has cut an album and has her own band, while the Six have been on tour and found some success. The series seems to be going with the angle that Billy’s substance abuse issues have derailed The Six and that Daisy’s career was going nowhere, so Teddy put them together. This continues in Episode Six, so I’ll discuss it there.
EPISODE SIX CHANGES: Daisy Jones & the Six Track 6: Whatever Gets You Through the Night
Episodes Five and Six correspond pretty closely to the 1977-78 section of the book.
Change #1: Wow, relatable Daisy has just turned into the nightmare diva Daisy we know and love
Until now I’ve been completely on board with all the changes made for the series, which I thought were good ones. But wow, watching Episode Six was hard. In the book, Daisy and Billy come off more as musical equals and their sparring over songwriting was interesting.
To me in the series, Daisy the bratty rich It Girl is BACK. She’s gone from a girl who scribbles random phrases for song lyrics in a little diary to a skilled song doctor whose talents leave Teddy Price in awe.
On top of that, her obsession with Billy in the series comes off to me as stalker-y and disturbing. This, to me, is the problem with the elimination of the Daisy touring with the band before they write together. She and Billy have zero relationship and she just creepily jumps on him after Camila is nice enough to invite her into the band “family.” What the heart wants it wants. Or what Daisy wants, Daisy gets.
The series, which has taken its time on the Graham-Karen relationship, basically has Daisy and Billy bond over their crappy parents and then bam, they understand each other on a deep level.
I mean, I’ve talked about how Taylor Jenkins Reid does write unconventional female characters who border on unlikeable, but wow I feel like the series really makes Daisy into a spoiled diva who just takes whatever she wants and throws a tantrum when Billy won’t reciprocate her crush. The book does a much better job of portraying Daisy as someone who is genuinely heartbroken that she can’t have the one person she feels like she connects to emotionally.
Change #2: Whoa, Camila and Eddie get it on – WHAT?!?!
Uh, what was that? Wow. One the one hand, it makes Camila feel like a bit less of a doormat, but it also feels REALLY vindictive (and a bit incestuous) for Camila and Eddie to sleep together. Couldn’t she just have picked a random guy? You know Eddie’s going to blab.
My other issue with it is that it also seems like a pre-justification of a physical affair between Daisy and Billy in the show. (Which, thankfully, doesn’t happen.)
Change #3: Billy DOES Kiss Daisy
In the book, she makes a pass at him but he pulls away. In the series, they are fighting about their songwriting and fighting their attraction to each other and they DO kiss.
Change #4 NO twins for Billy and Camila
I had to wait until the end to be sure, but Camila and Billy do not seem to have twins, at least not while the band is together. Camila does ask Billy about having another baby during the tour.
EPISODE SEVEN CHANGES: Daisy Jones & the Six Track 7 She’s Gone
Episode Seven corresponds to the very end of the 1977-78 section of the book but is largely new material.
Change #1: Simone Gets a Much Bigger Role in the Series
Simone is a great character and I’m happy that they expanded her role and explore the idea of what it’s like to be a Black, gay woman in the music industry in the 1970s. Simone’s career is taking off and she’s falling in love with her collaborator, a woman named Bernie.
Simone gets summoned to Italy by Daisy with a mysterious telegram. The show spends a LOT of time on all this, but it does help highlight how hard Simone has to work and how Daisy takes her success for granted. I mean, Billy was harsh but is sort of right. Her talent IS kind of wasted on her.
Change #2: Italian Nicky becomes an orphaned Irish prince
In the book, Nicky is an Italian prince and Daisy summons Simone to Thailand. In the series, Simone and Bernie come to Italy to hang around with Nicky and his hanger-on friends and attend Daisy’s wedding. In the series, Nicky doesn’t know how famous Daisy is, he just falls in love with her because she’s so fabulous. Sigh.
Change #3: Billy’s (and Daisy’s) betrayals of each other to Jonah Berg happens earlier
In the book, Billy gives Jonah Berg the quotes as a trade-off (so that Jonah won’t publish what Daisy said about him missing Julia’s birth) after Daisy marries Nicky. In the series, it’s the reason she storms off and disappears and marries Nicky.
This was interesting to me to see this play out on screen rather than in the interview format. The change in timeline worked for me and it was interesting to me how Daisy (as usual) made it all about her when SHE was the one who betrayed Billy’s confidence and blabbed first. Daisy would probably say that she was just telling the truth while Billy’s comments were opinions intended to be hurtful.
Change #4: Simone Calls Daisy Out
For dragging her all the way to Italy and being exactly what Billy said she was. This was everything. I laughed so hard. Go, Simone.
Change #5: Daisy Does NOT regret her marriage to Nicky
In the book, Daisy says she regrets the marriage but not her wedding dress. In the show, she regrets NOTHING. I didn’t mind that!
EPISODE EIGHT CHANGES: Daisy Jones & the Six Track 8 Looks Like We Made It
Finally, a tour! I was waiting to finally get one, but now I see why the series eliminated all but one: it’s just a LOT of scenes of them singing and snorting coke.
Episode 8 of the series follows the beginning of the 1978-79 years in the book pretty closely with a few small changes.
Change #1: The Song Billy Refuses to Sing
In the book, it’s Regret Me, which is the song Daisy wrote after she tried to kiss Billy and he pushed her away. In the show, it’s Look at Us Now (Honeycomb). I guess that’s because it reminds him of their connection? I don’t know. If you know why he refuses to sing that one (imo their best song) tell me in comments.
Change #2: Daisy OD’s on Tour
In the book, Daisy and Nicky go off to Italy and she OD’s there. Nicky leaves and she wakes up alone. In the series, it happens on the tour and of course Billy comes and holds her in his lap in the shower, thinking she might die. It’s an effective change, if a little dramatic!
EPISODE NINE CHANGES: Daisy Jones & the Six Track 9: Feels Like the First Time
Episode 9 corresponded pretty closely to the 1978-1979 section of the book: Daisy is using drugs heavily on tour, Karen finds out she’s pregnant, Daisy and Billy are getting along better and Daisy makes another pass at him. Teddy has a heart attack.
Change #1: Teddy Lives!
At least a few more years. In the book, Teddy dies during the tour. In the series, he lives until 1983. I was happy about this. I’m a Teddy fan. After his heart attack, that scene of him making a healthy smoothie and scowling was a whole mood!
Change #2 Daisy and Simone Make Up From Their Fight (which was not in the book)
I was amused that Daisy apologized for saying that Simone was in love with her but Simone did not apologize for calling Daisy a selfish bitch. Hahaha.
EPISODE TEN CHANGES: Daisy Jones & the Six Track 10: Rock ‘n Roll Suicide
Change #1: Daisy Does Not Change the Lyrics
In the book, she changes the lyrics to make a grand gesture: she is giving up Billy by singing Honeycomb as he originally wrote it, like a love song to Camila. In the series, Daisy tells the audience that Honeycomb is a love song and when she starts singing it, Billy stalks offstage.
Change #2: Daisy Does Not Meet Julia on the tour
In the book, Daisy loses her key and Camila lets her into their room and tells Daisy that she is her biggest fan. Camila says that she wants Daisy to be happy and that to be happy, Daisy needs to leave the band. This never happens in the series. Instead, Julia overhears Billy and Camila fighting and they put her back to bed.
Change #3: Daisy sees that Billy sees her as broken
In the book, Camila tells Daisy that Billy won’t leave her and that Daisy needs to get out of the band or it will destroy her. In the series, Billy tells Daisy that Camila left him and suggests they can be “broken together.” As we saw in an earlier episode, Daisy hates being called broken and seems to see that Billy is most drawn to her when he’s using. I liked that the series highlighted the toxic nature of their relationship a little better.
Change #4: Aftermath of Camila’s Cheating
This doesn’t happen in the book, but in the series, Eddie insinuates to Billy that he hooked up with Camila, and Billy punches him. Eddie has to go on stage with a black eye.
Change #5: Daisy and Billy Kiss a Second Time
As the group heads back offstage, Billy and Daisy make out a bit.
What Are Your Thoughts on the Daisy Jones & the Six Series?
Things I Loved:
Let’s discuss the book (and the movie) in the comments! Tell me what you thought about Daisy, Daisy and Billy’s doomed romance (but a second chance at love? Did they grab it?)
Teddy. He was an even better character in the series. I was SO afraid they were going to kill him off (as in the book) and so happy he got a few more years.
Warren and Rod. The actors who played them seemed to be having so much fun.
The more explicit focus on choices. From Billy’s shaky sobriety, to Teddy having to choose his health, to Simone choosing Bernie (did anyone else get Evelyn Hugo vibes), to Karen choosing NOT to be a mom, this book was all about life’s hard choices and I thought the series really highlighted it.
Things I Loved Less:
Billy’s wig. Graham’s wig. All the wigs.
Daisy as a character (again, I applaud TJR for making unlikeable characters, but Daisy thought her mom was so horrible and selfish and yet was the exact same way. Maybe she does change by the end of the story, but it’s hard to say.
Camila’s cheating. I can see the “give Camila more agency” theory, but what she did was calculated and pretty cold.
Things I Still Struggle With:
Daisy and Billy’s great love story. After watching the show and reading the book, I feel even more strongly that Billy was right: they were two broken people drawn to each other for all the wrong reasons.
Thanks for reading Daisy Jones & The Six: Spoilers and Movie News and Movie vs. Book.
Also please check out my post on The Fictional World of Taylor Jenkins Reid. How do all her books connect? What is the connected timeline of all the books? What are the crossover characters? This post tells all!
Also check out these related posts:
Spoiler Discussion for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Spoiler Discussion for Malibu Rising
Spoiler Discussion for Carrie Soto is Back
Who is the father of Daisy’s little girl?
In the book, she adopts children (the book says “sons.”) In the show it’s a daughter and if she said who the father was, I didn’t catch it. I don’t think the show is suggesting that the daughter is Billy’s, though.
The thing that kills me about the show is Graham.
The band was his idea. He kept it together when Billy goes to rehab. And at the end, he’s just gonna go home and have nothing to do with music??? Ugh. I’m not buying it.
I also think his connection with Karen was way more believable and developed than Billy’s relationship with either Daisy or Camilla.
Hi Jen. I appreciate all comments but want to especially thank you for this one because it’s so true and something I didn’t include in the post.
As an (ahem) slightly older person I feel like Daisy and Billy are a classic 20s drama relationship. So exhausting and I really wonder if they will go the long haul, even in their 50s or 60s. They are too alike; both very self-centered.
Graham … yes. I loved that the show had him crushing on Camila and then in classic Billy fashion, Billy comes and just takes everything: the band, Camila, all the glory. Maybe poor Graham had enough of being in Billy’s shadow?
YES to Karen and Graham’s relationship. In contrast to B and D, their relationship really broke my heart. It’s a story you don’t see that often of a woman knowing that she doesn’t want children and standing up for what she needs to be happy in life, even if that means letting Graham go. And he lets her go because he wants kids to feel fulfilled. It’s so sad and yet such an adult relationship. Short term drama but brave because in the end everyone’s deeper emotional needs are respected.
Hi,
I really loved the show and found your article very interesting. There were many new perspectives and details that I hadn’t noticed although watching the series multiple times. I have to admit, that I haven’t read the book (yet), so I can only refer to the information you mentioned in the article.
I would like to disagree on some of your points of view about certain changes: First, I think it was a good idea to let Camilla and Eddi have an affair. For me it was unexpected, as I found Camilla more of an extremely good person. She is able to forgive Billy for his behaviour during the first tour and she is portrayed as a loving mother, who finds fulfillment in this task. (There is this scene with her colleague in the photo studio, but I think this is more of an exception.) So I wondered if this is actually logical and fits her personality. But I think it really does and gives her character more depth and prevents her from becoming “the doormat” :-). Because even if she is this supportive and unconditionally loving wife, she may be struggling with the feeling of helplessness whenever Billy starts to become unloyal to her. When he comes home after his first rehab and asks if they want to move back to Pittsburgh, since they would be closer to their families, she stresses that she didn’t move to California for him, but with him. (Actually I think this isn’t true, because at least in the series it isn’t clear what particular reason she has to move away from her family and her job.) Then when she notices that Billy is developing feelings for Daisy she probably feels weak and “tries to make a secret of her own”. I could imagine that she planned to try to win Billy back this way by making him jealous, but then can’t tell him because of her good heart. Or she just needs this secret for her self esteem as described above.
Secondly, I liked Daisy’s character development. As I mentioned I didn’t read the book, so maybe it goes into more depth about the relationship between Daisy and her mother. I think you wrote, that in the book her mother was neglectiv, while she was more shown as mentally abusive in the series. In the series it seemed to me that she was very hurt in her self esteem, although she is naturally confident (or maybe not even that?). Many actions that could be interpreted as selfish and rude, like disobeying Billy during the Hawaii festival or speaking directly to him about the repeating subject of his songs and his habite to rule the band by himself, might be an act of self protection from being hurt again. (Because when you close your ears for the opinions of others and show them that you don’t care, you can’t be hurt that easily.) In the series she appears like a very vulnerable and unstable person in my opinion. In addition, I think that it might not be that easy to become a trustful adult if you have never experienced affection, love and support during your childhood. Maybe her priority was not necessarily to change and become a better person than her mother, but get along with her own insecurities, because she struggled so hard with holding herself together and ignoring “her mothers voice in her head”. However, in my opinion she at least loses her selfishness by telling Billy to go and live happily with Camilla, even so she could have had him at the end of the series. (If I understood you right, this scene is totally different in the book, so maybe she doesn’t develop into a more mature person in the novel.)
I found the love story of Daisy and Billy very complicated. I would guess that you see Billy and Camilla as the better fit, and even though I would feel so bad for Camilla, I always hoped for Daisy and Billy and I see the ending in this angle. When I started to realize that Billy wouldn’t choose Daisy I was so sad and frustrated. This said, I experienced the ending as a bit too perfect. Because if you would summarize how Billy and Daisy’s story ends it would maybe sound a bit like this: They weren’t ready for each other when they were in their 20s, but thanks to Camilla they got to know themselves better, gained back control over their substance use and became all in all more stable. I think the ending isn’t fully satisfying for anybody, because also the marriage with Camilla ends sadly with her death, but it isn’t a complete disaster for anyone either.
You wrote that they “were drawn to each other for all the wrong reasons” and I think it is actually a quit interesting question, why they were attracted to each other. I don’t know if this is justified, but I got the impression that in the novel it’s mainly Daisy who persuades him and less the other way around. Obviously this would make sense, as Billy has a family while Daisy is totally alone, but for the series I have the feeling that affection and at the same time fear of each other were distributed evenly. In the beginning it seems like Daisy is more desperate when she begs Billy to admit that there is something going on before they kiss and she sings the “More fun to miss” song. (Maybe this scene is similar to the situation when Daisy tries to kiss Billy, but he prevents it. Moreover when she invites him to her room and he refuses it also seems more like Daisy is the driving force behind their relationship in the book, but I don’t know.) Also Daisy’s decision to move to Greece is pretty radical in my opinion, as it demonstrates how hurt she feels and that she can’t stand the presence of Billy anymore. During the “Aurora”-Tour it seemed to me like it was more Billy who tried to win Daisy over. The way he stares at her during the performance of “Two against Three”, that he punches her husband, how afraid he is to lose Daisy when he finds her in the shower and also it appears to me like he tried to kiss her after the press conference, but she was too angry. But back to the question why they couldn’t leave each other alone in the first place. I agree that the series gave them only very little time to get to know each other and fall in love. In the fifth episode “Fire” Daisy tells him suddenly that he was the actual reason why she wanted to join the band. This took me by surprise even if Daisy has clearly a very straight forward way to say things. So I agree that this was a bit unexpected and out of nowhere, as there was only a little time shown when they could get to know each other. However, I think that there are many more reasons for them being “soulmates” except their difficult childhoods. First of all, they both struggled with addiction and the sense of not being enough and worth any love. For Daisy it is told directly in the series that she started to doubt herself and that she couldn’t overcome her mother’s coldness. But I think that Billy struggles with guilt and consequently also self esteem. As Daisy remarks he isn’t able to write songs about any other topic than his marriage and he is unwilling to reveal his true self with all his facets, because he is afraid that people won’t like it. Furthermore, he first is feared to pick up his daughter, since he could let her down like he did with Camilla during the first tour. In the car he tells Daisy that all he does is to make his dad regret leaving his family. In my opinion this proves that they both struggled with their identity due to their childhoods, but proceeded to 🫥 their insecurities under a blanket of selfishness and reservedness. Besides their similar pasts and the resulting problems they also share a great passion for music. Based on your description of the novel I assume that in the book Daisy is more of a party queen that by chance has a great talent for music, but doesn’t really care so much about her creative work. Under these circumstances it makes perfect sense that Billy says that Daisy’s talent is wasted on somebody like her. In the series music is all she is really interested in and it gives her chaotic life some sense and stability. I think that they are very alike and have a similar way of thinking and perceiving the world. Probably it is very difficult to predict what would have happened if Billy would have chosen Daisy, but I think that it does not necessarily need to be a downward spiral. I think we should keep in mind that a major reason why they are both so broken later in the series is the impossibility of being together. Rather than the life on tour itself it is more the guilt and despair that wrecks them. Maybe it could be said that Daisy improves the way that Billy thinks about himself, as he is able to write songs about his actual self and not just the person that he would wish to be. Moreover, I think it is evident that they care for each other, as Billy tries to raise awareness that Daisy is using an unusually large amount of drugs and even talks to her husband. Daisy gives up her own feelings, because she thinks that Billy will be happier with Camilla. Camilla is a super supportive person who is willing to do a lot so her family can lead a happy life, but after all she doesn’t really understand Billy like Daisy does. Billy needs to hide his insecurities and doubts for Camilla, whether Daisy sees them and confronts him. Camilla is such a good person,that he doesn’t want to break her heart again and he probably also feels a lot of guilt towards her, so he maybe doesn’t dare to argue with her. In contrast Daisy and him respect each other and although there is rivalry between them, they are happy for each other’s improvements. Camilla seems more like a good friend, who gives him advice, but not like a partner for life. I could imagine, that Daisy and Billy could find stability by understanding each other and solving their problems together. But this is just speculation. In general I really think that commitment to one person is essential in forming stable relationships, but in the case of Billy and Camilla they don’t have any common interests. (A little like Graham and Caroline.) You could argue that Camilla is more of a family person and Billy is too, but in the end Daisy also has a daughter despite her previous fear of messing up her child’s life, like her own mother did. So all in all I wouldn’t say that they were a good fit and I would have loved to see how their relationship developed.
I am sorry that this became such a long text now, but I am very passionate about the series and also really love to discuss books and movies. 🙂 I would be so happy if you would find the time to respond to some of my thoughts.
Thanks for the comment! It’s very interesting to hear the perspective of someone who didn’t read the book. I’m pretty sure that the author participated in the show, so all these changes were okay with her. And I think the show did some things better.
Daisy definitely had more psychological depth in the show. In the book she was effortlessly talented and (I think) more shallow and selfish. I agree with you that having her parents be outright abusive (rather than just absent) made her much more sympathetic and gave her actions some needed context.
I also agree that the show had to rush some things. The show cut the touring scenes down a lot. In the book, the group had a whole tour together with Daisy as (I think) the warm-up or “special guest” so that Daisy and Billy spent a lot of time together. In the show, they write songs together for one weekend and Daisy decides they are soulmates, which was a bit weird.
As I think I said in the post, I didn’t mind Camila having an affair as it gave her more agency. But the person she chose was such a hostile slap in the face to Billy. In both the book and the show she is a selfless person who forgives Billy for cheating on tour with groupies, takes him back after he falls deep into substance abuse and misses the birth of their daughter, and, when she knows she is dying, even suggests to her daughters that they urge Billy to get back in touch with Daisy. It just seemed out of character for her to be so cruel and choose the person to cheat with whom she knew a) would tell Billy and b) would hurt Billy the most.
I have mixed feelings about the whole Greece thing. That was a bit of wasted plotline to me but maybe they were worried about the show having too many performance scenes. It was random, but it did help develop the Simone storyline more and I got to see Simone tell Daisy off, which I enjoyed.
I agree that Daisy is definitely good for Billy in some ways. She pushes him to be more honest in his songwriting and stop writing sappy songs about Camila lol. I hope they find happiness; I am just sad that poor Camila has to die for this to happen.