Daisy Jones & The Six, the Prime Video limited series based on the Taylor Jenkins Reid book of the same name, is out now! Despite the fact that episodes are dropping in batches, I will be recapping each and every one right here for you. From the formation of the band to its eventual collapse, we’re going along on this wild ride together
I cannot believe that this is already the last week of living in the Daisy Jones and The Six world. I have so much love for all of these characters, their music, and their stories, and it breaks my heart that the batch releases means that we only get a month. In another unfortunate turn of events, I am on vacation this week, so my FINALE RECAP is going to come out in a week or two. I apologize in advance.
Track 9: Feels Like the First Time opens when Daisy opens her eyes the day after her near overdose. Nicky is back, apparently having decided that his life is no longer in danger, and Daisy has an IV bandage in her arm.
While Nicky calls down for some room service, Daisy storms out, headed straight to Billy’s room. It is now that I can confirm that Daisy and Billy’s rooms are, in fact, on the same floor. This was not supposed to be the case! Seems like a bit of an oversight to me, but alas.
Billy lets Daisy in, and she demands that he tell her what happened. She sounds like a scared little kid. All the while, Nicky bangs on the door, screaming at them to let him in. Billy says that Rod called the doctor and they pumped the drugs out, but what Daisy wants to know is where Nicky was the entire time.
Then, we smashcut to Daisy storming into the hallway, screaming for Nicky to pack his stuff and leave. If he was going to leave her to die in the shower, she doesn’t want him there anymore. The ruckus is enough to draw the band out of their respective rooms, and they look on in confusion. When Daisy screams at him to leave again, he refuses, and then things get physical. Warren immediately intervenes, pushing Nicky away, and he obeys, saying only “you’ll regret this”.
The band boys try to comfort Daisy, but she pushes them off, and Karen steps up to grab her, wrapping Daisy in her arms as she begins to sob.
Queue the intro sequence!
When we return, Daisy is sitting on the bus, staring at the window looking lost. Interview Daisy says that doing drugs heightens your emotions, and that coming down was how she rediscovered her sanity—and who she needed to escape from.
She’s performing in a way Interview Karen describes as “sad”, singing at the microphone without even attempting to dance. Being sober also means that she can’t be on the party bus, and this leads to her creeping into Billy’s solo tour bus after a show.
He doesn’t look happy to see her, but he doesn’t look sad either, just sitting there in silence. Both Daisy and Billy share that they wanted this life their whole lives, but now they’re both deeply unhappy.
Daisy: I hate that you saw me like that. And I hate that you were the one who saved me
Billy suggests that Daisy call Teddy, reminding her that he’s been there too once before. In fact, Billy would take her to rehab if that was what she needed. She asks to sleep in his bus for the night, and he assents, getting up to walk back into the room.
The next morning, Billy calls Camila from a payphone to tell her what happened to Daisy. She sounds genuinely concerned and upset for the girl and what Nicky did to her.
Meanwhile, Daisy isn’t actually sober. In interviews, she tells us that she’s still using, but with “rules”. She’ll only take coke before shows, or quaaludes when she needs to come down.
In a show, Daisy takes the mic and tells everyone that she nearly died the other night. But she’s alive now, and she hopes they can all “stay alive just a little bit longer”. It’s emotional, and the boys in the band seem impressed.
After the show Rod informs them that they’re selling out, and it’s time to add a little “fire”. Daisy laughs. She’s the fire. And she’s back, baby.
The band goes out to watch another performance at a dive bar. It’s harder rock, and Warren wonders, if this is the future, why anyone will ever care about them. Eddie goes up to talk to one of the band members when he gets off the stage, but the man says that only “his little sister” listened to the records. This clearly bothers Eddie.
In interviews, Warren and Eddie acknowledge how big they were, and how fleeting that moment felt even then.
Still, they’re on top of the world, doing Saturday Night Live and surrounded by adoring fans. It’s backstage at SNL that Daisy realizes she can’t find her pills. She’s starting to spiral when Billy comes in.
Daisy says that she can’t do it—everything is a little too real— but Billy grabs her, grounding her right there in the moment. There is a 100% chance someone at SNL has pills she can take, but I guess that would make less good television for Amazon Prime Video!
The Six perform, and Simone watches on TV with a sad smile. She’s signing with Attic Records! On one condition.
Ugh! Let my girl Simone be happy and live her life, fuck what would be accurate at the time when it comes to her.
Simone heads home with Bernie, and her girlfriend wants her to tell the record to “go to hell”. After all, they won’t allow Bernie to go on tour with Simone, or be a part of her life at all.
Simone: Bernie, this is what I always wanted Bernie: And here I thought I was
My heart is breaking. She should never be forced to choose.
Backstage after SNL, Daisy tells Billy that she’s feeling good. Not as good as cocaine, but okay. Things seem to be on the up and up, but then there are screams and we see Teddy being wheeled to the hospital. He had a heart attack.
The whole band, including Daisy, head to the hospital looking worried. While Teddy’s stable, the doctor still doesn’t know the full extent of the damages.
They have time to kill, so Daisy and Billy head to the hospital chapel to think. Billy could use a drink, and Daisy wants to talk about the meaning of life. Whether things happen for a reason, if angels exist, and how when she nearly died she felt nothing.
Billy says that if there’s no meaning to anything, then he wouldn’t even be alive right now. Fate brought him where he was. If it weren’t for a series of coincidences—joining the band, meeting Teddy, meeting Daisy—he’d have drunk himself to death just like his dad. There has to be someone up there for him to have ended up with all that.
It’s that moment when Rod and the doctor walk in. Teddy’s awake, and taking visitors one at a time.
Billy heads in first, and instantly gets close to tears. He tells Billy that he owes his life to him, and that he couldn’t handle it if he died. Teddy is truly a dad to Billy, and it’s making me emotional how much he cares. Imagine how different Billy’s life could have been if that Teddy figure had been there from the start.
The others are seated in the waiting room when Simone runs in, looking panicked. Daisy tells her that he woke up, jumping out of her seat as if to give her former best friend a hug, but they don’t touch.
They do, however, go off to talk alone. About Teddy, and about what Daisy said. Daisy brings it up first, admitting (for the first time in her entire life, I think) that what she said was “so awful”. She says the words “I’m sorry” and Simone, crying, pulls her into a hug.
Interview Graham says that after that, he remembers “a sense of calm”.
Interview Karen says there was “nothing out of the ordinary”
Interview Warren says he was “dating a movie star”, with adorable excitement.
Meanwhile, Billy and Daisy are making things work as friends. They grab lunch together, both wearing giant hats but failing to avoid being recognized. Billy asks Daisy if she’s “given any thought to it” and she says no, and then admits that there is “one song” and Billy instantly requests the check. They’re back in business!
Graham and Karen are also making things work, but not as friends. They’re getting dressed after sex, happy and in love, when Karen suddenly realizes that her breast hurts. She looks worried, but doesn’t say anything to Graham.
Daisy plays her new song to Billy. The main lyric is “it was always you”, and the way she sings it, looking down from where she sits on the piano bench to where he sits in a chair, it’s clear that “you” is Billy. Billy knows it too, and he puts his hand on her knee, allowing his fingers to slip off immediately.
The interviewer asks Graham to tell her what happened in Boston, and he immediately defers to Karen, stating that it’s not his place to say anything. The interviewer says she told her already, and Graham gets up, requesting water.
And then we’re back in Graham and Karen’s Boston hotel room, and Graham is overjoyed but Karen is furious. Karen is pregnant!
Graham thinks that they can make everything work. They’ll have the baby, get a new keyboardist—
Karen cuts him off before he can get any further. There’s no shot Karen is quitting the band to raise a baby, and she doesn’t think Graham is planning on it either. He requests some time to think about it, but Karen doesn’t reply.
And the band is headed to Pittsburgh! Home!
Each member of the band runs to their family immediately off the plane, hugging them and catching up. Daisy stands there awkwardly, unsure of what to do, until Mrs. Dunne wraps her in a hug as well.
They all head to a house party, where children are racing around and families are catching up. Warren introduces his supermodel girlfriend, and Daisy and Camila chat while watching Julia and Billy play. Julia is obsessed with Daisy; she wants to look just like her when she grows up. I cannot imagine how much this must hurt Camila, knowing that even her own daughter would choose Daisy, but she seems calm and content.
Camila asks if Daisy has considered having kids, and she looks shocked at the mere suggestion. Her own parents didn’t want children, and she doesn’t want to be responsible for fucking up a child the way her parents fucked up her.
Camila: Don’t count yourself out this early, Daisy. You are… all sorts of things you don’t even know
The band boys catch up with their old friend Chuck, who quit the band to go to college. He makes a comment about how after taxes and split, the band can’t be making nearly as much as he is, but they all shift about awkwardly and Interview Chuck sighs in defeat.
Karen is moving about looking frazzled when she runs into Camila, who instantly knows what’s wrong. She hugs her and says “I’m sorry”, which is clearly the first time Karen ever got the reaction that matched her own.
That night, Camila suggests that she and Billy try for another child after the tour. She wants a sibling for Julia, and a chance to parent when they’re actually ready for it. Billy looks surprised, and then happy, covering her in kisses.
Daisy, who’s also staying at Mrs. Dunne’s house, can hear Camila and Billy giggling through the way. Interview Daisy shares that it’s the first night in her life when she didn’t want to take anything. She knew exactly what she wanted. It’s obvious that this “what” is Billy Dunne.
They perform in Pittsburgh that night to a screaming crowd that includes Camila and Julia. Daisy still doesn’t hesitate to get close to Billy whenever possible, leaning into him during “Regret Me”.
When they shuffle off the stage to regroup for the next part of the set, Billy grabs Eddie’s guitar and heads back onstage with just Daisy. Interview Eddie said it was hard for him to feel like a “second class citizen in a first class resort” his whole life, and it’s clear his guitar being stolen was one straw too many.
He’s furious walking offstage, and Rod is doing his best to talk him down.
Karen is sad and tired, telling Graham that she’s heading to the hotel for the night rather than staying with Graham and his family.
Interview Billy: There’s the right thing to do, and the right thing to do for yourself. They’re almost never the same thing
As sad music plays and Billy speaks, we get a montage of Teddy eating healthy, Camila taking Karen to the clinic, and Simone packing her bags to go on tour without Bernie.
Billy and Daisy are writing music together, when suddenly Daisy starts laughing. She “had a vision” of them 20 years in the future, and Billy says they will be together 20 years in the future. Writing music, touring.
“We should be together” Daisy blurts out, and then instantly regrets it. She hops up to go pack and get away, but Billy says he wants to be with her as well. He does, but he also won’t leave his wife. Daisy and Billy are meant to be the way they are, the highs and the lows, always yearning and never being granted that release, at least according to Billy.
While Billy speaks, he pulls Daisy in close, foreheads touching, and they pull apart only seconds before Camila walks by the room.
And then it’s time to leave Pittsburgh! The PA natives say goodbye to their families and then climb aboard the aircraft. Only Warren (who was with his actress girlfriend) is happy. The rest of them look a mess.
Camila saw Billy and Daisy together through the window when they were pressed together, and she’s stewing. Eddie is still mad about Billy taking his guitar. Karen and Graham aren’t really speaking because of the baby, and the secret of the non-baby.
It’s with these attitudes that they all head to Chicago, for the very last performance of all of their careers as a band.
And that’s the episode!
Write Through the Night 