Messiness, Character Choices and Revenge as a Motivation | Daisy Jones & the Six

For anyone like me who watched this show last year; you’re probably still obsessing over it.

Daisy & Billy.

Billy & Camilla.

All of them and the spotlight.

I was inspired to rewatch it recently because it’s just that good, but I wanted to unpack some of the relationships a bit more - because it gets MESSY.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Daisy Jones & the Six is based on the book of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It takes the format of a documentary about a fictional band, The Six. Although not specifically based on one band; they bear heavy resemblance to Fleetwood Mac in particular, other elements also coming through from Janis Joplin, The Cranberries and many many more.

The story follows a band from Pittsburgh, who make it big when they collaborate with free spirited up-and-comer, Daisy Jones. Of course, this is only the beginning of their problems.

Daisy “Margaret” Jones comes from a home where her parents didn’t give her much attention; she craved it from somewhere else instead.

The spotlight.

Billy comes from a similar background; his need for success coming directly from his father abandoning him and his family.

The difference in my opinion is that under all of that, Daisy still thrives in the spotlight.

When Daisy and Billy meet, they instantly rub each other the wrong way.

Billy has already done a lot of work at this point; he’s been to rehab, he’s on the straight and narrow - but she turns his world upside down simply by reminding him of the things he’s fighting.

She’s also one of the most talented people he’s ever met, and this conflict isn’t something he knows how to handle. He’s both in awe of her and pushed away by the parts that he recognises.

At his core, Billy’s choice of who he wants to be is represented physically by the choice between Daisy and Camilla.

Camilla represents the positive arc; being a family man, being the best version of himself and providing for them.

Daisy represents the negative one; only he doesn’t realise this yet.

There was a line that really struck me towards the end; Billy says to Camilla that she doesn’t see all of him because he doesn’t let her; and Daisy does.

I’d take this one step further and say that he only lets her because there’s no possibility of being with Daisy as long as she’s off limits, he can do what he wants without having to deal with any underlying fears - like his fears of being abandoned, due to his father leaving as a child.

Camilla, in the meantime, is a saint putting up with all of this. She’s the person who ends up getting hurt because everyone thinks she can handle it.

And Daisy Jones? She deserved way more than this.

Daisy was treated like a second option by Billy from the get go; but the thing about this is that in order for that to happen from the start, she has been the one allowing it.

The moment when she finally lets Billy go, and steps into her own path towards the end, this is when she truly looks like she’s thriving onstage. She’s been looking for a relationship to fulfil her all along, when all she really needed was herself.

Camilla shows her own conflict towards the end when she says A) that she always loved Daisy Jones and B) Daisy and Billy should be together (after she’s gone) - but I can’t help but agree with her on this one.

As for Karen and Graham?

They should never have been together in my opinion, but that’s a story for another day.