By the time Taylor Jenkins Reid’s book Daisy Jones & The Six was released in 2019, a streaming series adaptation was already in the works. That means that fans who read (and loved) this documentary-style tale of the rise and fall of a 1970s rock band have been waiting years to see and hear this story come to life. That time has finally come, as the first three episodes of Daisy Jones & The Six will be available for streaming on March 3 with an Amazon Prime Video subscription, and the reviews are in to help us decide if it was worth the wait.
Riley Keough says she feels she was put on this earth to play the titular character — not because music runs in her blood, as the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, but because she connected with Daisy’s artistry and her fight to be taken seriously as a young woman. She’s joined in the series by Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne, as well as Camila Morrone, Suki Waterhouse, Timothy Olyphant and more. Let’s see what the critics are saying about the long-awaited series.
Angie Han of THR says the series preserves much of what fans love about the bestselling novel, possibly to a fault, as it lacks a little edge. However, Riley Keough fully captures Daisy Jones’ electric energy with her rock-star swagger. The critic concludes:
Daisy Jones & The Six, Amazon’s adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel about a fictional band in the 1970s Los Angeles rock scene, is a good show, not a great one. There’s much about it worth celebrating, especially for readers who’ve long dreamt of seeing these characters brought to life and listening to their hit album Aurora for real. But somewhere in the process of trying to deliver exactly what’s expected of it, the story loses its sense of urgency and rawness — which is to say, its rock ‘n’ roll spirit.
Darren Franich of EW grades it a B+ saying Daisy Jones & The Six is absurd and schmaltzy but sneakily profound. The reviewer doesn’t connect with the documentary style but admits to liking the “ridiculous” series anyway, saying:
‘Rock and roll should be passion, pain, anger!’ Eddie declares, and the material invites the firecracker guitar-hero stylistics of The Doors or Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains. For a while, I thought Daisy Jones was too mild by comparison: Less sex and drugs, more wuv and rehab. Basically nice characters sing about each other to each other, with lyrics well-timed to comment on recent plot turns. Does this sound fun or ridiculous? It's a bit of both, but I grooved on the easy listening. In the end, heaven help me, I cried about a wig.
Mary Kate Carr of AV Club also gave it a B+, noting how much fun the cast seems to have together. The set design and ‘70s-era costumes draw audiences in to the compelling love story at the center of it all, and the critic says the series is destined to be a crowd-pleaser:
Daisy Jones is a rock ’n’ roll fable, and its characters are rock ’n’ roll archetypes: the disgruntled bassist whos discontented playing backup; the angelic, martyred musician’s wife; the addict bandleaders constantly spinning towards each other and out of control. There are few genuine surprises in the series, as all of these figures feel locked into their predetermined paths from the first episode. But a large part of the fun is just being along for the ride, even if its twists and turns feel familiar.
The critics seem to agree that fans of the book will likely be satisfied with the adaptation. Kate Collins of CNET says that while the overall story stays loyal to the source material, there are enough differences that the hard-core book lovers should be ready to keep an open mind. The review continues:
Some differences between the novel and the show mean the most hard-core Daisy Jones and The Six fans may have to set aside their preexisting attachment to the plot to get the most out of this adaptation. These changes, however, have very little material impact on the storyline of this ambitious, big-hearted show, which has so much to offer romance, music and celebrity gossip fans alike.
Roxana Hadadi of Vulture, however, feels there’s a smallness to the Prime Video series, despite the great performances and original music, that makes the critic feel we’re “settling for a copy of a copy,” saying:
The series shrinks Reid’s novel (partially inspired by the infamously stormy relationship between Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham) into a claustrophobic love triangle mostly uninterested in looking beyond its three points, and indifferent to the paranoia and exhilaration of the 1970s. Creative process is recurrently pushed aside for romantic pining, and there’s no imagination for artistic motivation past jealousy and lust.
The series has garnered generally positive marks, earning a Rotten Tomatoes score of 76% Fresh from 45 critics’ reviews. If you want to check out this book-to-screen adaptation, the first three episodes of Daisy Jones & The Six will be available to stream on Amazon’s Prime Video on Friday, March 3, with new episodes each Friday through March 24. Be sure to check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what other premieres are coming soon.
