‘Everybody Loves Daisy Jones’ is the latest hit series on Amazon Prime Video. The fictional biopic about the rise and fall of the musical band Daisy Jones & The Six is based on the novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid (‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’). The series follows the book quite faithfully although it takes certain licensessome of which we will discuss in this post.
SPOILERS warning for both the series and the book of ‘Everybody Loves Daisy Jones’
It’s been… 40 years
The story is shown to us as a false documentary about this musical group that triumphed in the 70s. However, while in the novel the statements of the members of the group are situated 40 years after their separation, the series reduced the time span to 20 yearssurely to make the characterization of the characters easier.
Daisy Jones and the five
Another of the most striking differences is the origin of the group being called ‘The Six’, when there are clearly five people. In the series they imply that it is because they include Camila but in the book they choose that name because there were six of them counting Pete Loving, the original bassist of the band and brother of Eddie Loving (whose last name is changed to Roundtree).
The series omits Pete Loving and does a character dance: Chuck Loving is a kind of transcript of Pete and Chuck Williams, who in the novel dies after the Vietnam War, while in the Prime Video version he leaves the group to be dentist.
The one and only Simone
One of the most memorable secondary of the series is precisely Simone. The character’s role in the book is much smaller and the age difference between her and Daisy more pronounced (in fact, in the novel Daisy is still in high school when they meet). The subplot of the romance between Simone and Bernice is also a contribution of the series.
Camila and Eddie’s mess
Another significant change is the idyll between Camilia and Eddie, non-existent in Reid’s novel. Probably, this episode wants to represent a moment in the book in which it is dropped that Camila did have a brief affair with a former classmate.
daisy’s wedding
Simone’s role at Daisy’s wedding is also very different: in the original, Daisy is already married by the time she manages to make the trip, and in the series, Simone attends the wedding as a bridesmaid and is able to notice the irregularities between Daisy and Nicky. Also, in the book Daisy flees to Thailand and in the adaptation ends up on Hydra, a Greek island.
Teddy’s death
One of the hardest blows in the final stretch of the miniseries is the death of Teddy Price. Although in both versions he ends up dying, in the book it happens much earlier, just when he has his first heart attack. In the fiction created by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, Teddy survives that first incident although he has to be hospitalized urgently and that marks a turning point for the protagonists.
The end
Although in itself both endings are quite similar, there are small divergences: in the novel, Daisy leaves the group because Camila asks her to and Billy says he never knew why she left him, while in the adaptation Daisy decides to after a tense conversation with Billy. At the same time, Eddie doesn’t make the decision to quit before the concert and in the series it is quite clear from his discussion with Billy.
The most striking thing is Daisy’s life after leaving the group, which in Reid’s work quits music, becomes a writer and adopts two children. In the audiovisual denouement, Daisy embarks as a solo musician and has a daughter. Furthermore, the book concludes with Camila’s words encouraging Billy to get back in touch with Daisy and the series is allowed to show us the expected reunionalthough leaving the doubt of if it really happened or it is just a dream.
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