Riley Keough and Sam Claflin brought their characters to life in a way that makes it seem as if the book was written for them, and not vice versa.

Review

By Katie Havens / Matthew Staff || Edited by Kayla Muller

Daisy Jones and The Six is the television series of the year. Based on the book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, this show adaptation leaves little disappointment to those who were already fans of the story. Set in the 1970s, the show follows the life of a small band from Pittsburgh, called The Six, that quickly rises to fame. With their popularity comes a new member of the band, Daisy Jones, who adds flare and energy to the dynamic of the group; and with that comes loads of drama. The first three episodes were released on March 3rd, and new ones came out every Friday until the finale arrived on March 24th. If you haven’t already, I suggest you go stream all ten episodes now on Amazon Prime Video.  

An impressive component of the show is the magic that the casting directors managed to produce. All six of the main characters are perfectly brought to life according to Reid’s thoughtfully crafted descriptions. Daisy Jones is played by Riley Keough, who does a flawless job at portraying her unrelenting, cunning, personality. Although she claims to have never sang before booking this gig, her voice is as powerful as you would imagine the book version of Daisy Jones. The same goes for the rest of the members of the band, who mostly have musical backgrounds. Ironically, the only other cast member who hadn’t previously done music is Sam Claflin, who plays the other lead, Billy. Behind the scenes footage has recently come out showing the “band camp” that the cast attended. There, they learned to sing, play instruments, and perform. It is obvious that their hard work paid off, as the musical scenes are breathtaking, to say the least. Something so hard to replicate as the book’s complex, descriptive, characters, was pulled off extremely well by this collection of actors.  

One of the main aspects of the book is the chemistry-filled relationship between the main characters, Daisy and Billy. The tension between Riley Keough and Sam Claflin is impalpable. These two characters undergo many ups and downs throughout the timeline of the series, and the actors accurately expressed the emotion that was described in the book without having to explicitly say it aloud. Riley and Sam brought these characters to life in a way that makes it seem as if the book was written for them, and not vice versa.  

Along with the new show, we are also blessed with a whole album titled “Aurora.” In her book, Reid wrote lyrics and backstories to each of the band’s songs. Although the writers of the show changed the lyrics to the songs, the meanings behind them remain the same. Subsequently, the emotion extracted may be even more powerful than before. The music is an important representation of Billy and Daisy’s evolving relationship with themselves and each other. The lyrics, and how they were written in relation to the story, are a crucial aspect of the plot. Watching this show makes you forget that The Six isn’t a real band, especially since they have an album out on music streaming platforms.  

Although the band is not real, interviewers have repeatedly asked the cast members if they would ever go on tour, and they seem to be up to the idea. It has yet to be determined if Daisy Jones and the Six will come to life more than it already has, but based upon fan opinions of the show, a tour would be extremely popular. The only complaint I have with this show is that we don’t get to experience more than one season. Once I was finished with the tenth episode, the first thing I went to do was start over again from the beginning.   

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