Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ follows the tumultuous journey of the titular band, focusing on the reasons behind its disbanding at the height of its success. Following a documentary format, the show traces its origins from the beginning, easing the audience through the transitions that the characters go through as they evolve into better artists, eventually becoming ones that are loved and revered by the whole world. The story starts separately for the Six and Daisy Jones. The Six go through a lot of changes before they meet Daisy. One of the curious things about them is that the number of members in the Six never exceeds five. Then why are they called the Six? Let’s find out.
Chuck’s Departure Reduces Band Members
‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ is adapted from the book of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid. In the book, there are a total of seven members in the band, including Daisy. This means that the Six derives its name from the six people that constitute it. In the show, however, one of those members doesn’t appear. The characters that appear in the TV show are Billy and Graham Dunne, Warren Rojas, Eddie Roundtree, and Karen Sirko. Before Karen joins them, they had been the Dunne Brothers. Before they moved to California, one of the original members, Chuck, decided to leave the band to pursue a safer career option.
In the book, the sixth member of the band is named Pete Loving. Not only does he never appear in the show, but his name is also not mentioned. In fact, the band’s member count never makes it above five, which makes it curious that they would name themselves the Six. Scott Neustadter, who is the co-creator of the show, revealed that they decided to drop Pete to weed out the characters that were not that important when it came to telling the story of ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’.
“When you adapt things for television, changes inevitably happen. The Pete character serves a function in the novel, but he doesn’t have much to say, he’s not the most dramatic. We knew if we were going to cast Pete, the actor might want more to do,” Neustadter said. He further explained that removing Pete’s character allowed them to make more room for other characters that have a greater impact on the story of the group. As a result, characters like Teddy Price and Simone Jackson found an expansion in their storyline, which not only allows more depth to their story but also adds a new dimension to the journey of the lead characters.
While they removed the sixth member of the band, the creators of the show couldn’t simply change the title to ‘Daisy Jones and the Five’. The fact that it should remain “the Six” was extremely important, so they found a different way to go about it. As mentioned above, the show expands the characters from the book that otherwise didn’t receive as much attention in the story. Small changes were made while bringing it to the screen, one of which included a change in Camila’s journey.
In the book, she and Billy break up when the band moves to LA. It is only later that they reunite. In the show, however, Camila moves with the band to California, leaving behind her family and a secure life. She doesn’t perform with the band but she does manage them for a while, making calls, keeping finances, and all the other work. This makes her an invaluable part of the team. So, when the time comes to rename the band, Karen suggests they be called the Six, acknowledging Camila as the sixth member of the group.
This move on the show’s part not only keeps the reasoning intact for the name behind the Six but also gives more weight to Camila’s character, consolidating her position within the band as well as in Billy’s life. This further impacts the storyline of the show, as the events snowball into the band eventually breaking up. Hence, this minor change from the book enhances the material, making the emotional journey of the characters more impactful.
Read More: Is Aurora a Real Music Album? Where to Listen to Daisy Jones and the Six Soundtrack?
