Daisy Jones & The Six : All the Changes Fans of the Book Have Seen in the Riley Keough-Led Series
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Warning: This post contains spoilers from all available episodes of Daisy Jones & the Six.
As with any book-to-screen adaptation, Amazon Prime Video's Daisy Jones & The Six has seen its fair share of alterations compared to the book's original storyline.
Based on the novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid — a bestseller since its 2019 release — the new series follows free-spirited '70s rocker Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) and the Six, a band from Pittsburgh led by stubborn frontman and recovering addict, Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin).
As Daisy and Billy's paths intertwine, their story becomes far larger than just that of two bandmates with the No. 1 album in the U.S. — a fact known by every member of the band, who are each rife with their own struggles and drama, not to mention Billy's wife Camila (Camila Morrone).
Here's everything you need to know about the key changes made to Daisy and the Six's story as it transformed from book to screen.
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Instead of going to war, Chuck becomes a dentist
Within the first episode of the series, the band — then called the Dunne Brothers — go from six members to five as they lose Chuck Loving (Jack Romano), who opts not to move from the band's native Pittsburgh to chase their dreams in Los Angeles. Instead, Chuck will attend college and become a dentist.
Chuck informs his bandmates of his college acceptance much to their surprise. "Billy, I know this is your dream, man, but just because you want something to happen doesn't mean it's going to," he tells his disappointed bandmates and the band's frontman. "I mean, do you really think that there's a future here?"
"Yeah, Chuck, I do," Billy tells him, to which he replies: "You're out of your f---ing mind."
In the book, Chuck is drafted into the Vietnam War and dies within months of his deployment.
Pete, the bassist, is not a member of the band
The book tells a story of a seven-person band which drops to six only after Chuck's deployment in Vietnam. The series leaves out one of the original members of the Six: Eddie's brother, bassist Pete. His character is entirely left out of the show.
Showrunner and writer Scott Neustadter said that the decision to remove Pete's storyline was to build more room for others — like Daisy's best friend, Simone Jackson (Nabiyah Be), and the band's producer, Teddy Price (Tom Wright).
"When you adapt things for television, changes inevitably happen," Neustadter told TIME. "But this one didn't stress us out too much. 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. It felt like eliminating Pete enabled us to do more with the characters that we had in the ensemble, which was already a pretty big group of people. And I hope everyone, especially the Pete stans, forgive us after they watch the show."
RELATED: The Cast of Daisy Jones & The Six: Everything to Know
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Teddy sends Billy to rehab, not Camila
Episode 2 sees Camila give birth to her and Billy's daughter, Julia, alone while her rocker husband is nearly unconscious on stage. Producer Teddy Price then forces him into a car and drives him to the hospital, informing him that his wife has given birth.
The book sees Camila play more of a direct role in Billy's rehab stint. Instead of rehab being Teddy's idea, Camila issues Billy an ultimatum — delivered through Teddy: he can come meet his daughter and become a father, or go to rehab.
In the closing moments of episode 2, Teddy forces Billy out of his car as they arrive at the hospital, but Billy remains unable to enter, fearful to meet his daughter and face Camila after she caught him with other women during a surprise visit to the band's tour. At his refusal, Teddy delivers Billy to a rehab facility. Episode 3 picks up with his emotional discharge from the rehab program.
Billy dabbles with the idea of quitting the band
When Billy gets out of rehab and returns to the band's house in Laurel Canyon in episode 3, he tells the band he's done with music, and even tells Camila they should move back to Pittsburgh instead of staying in California.
Graham tries to tell Billy to take a minute to think about whether he truly wants to quit the band, but his brother is unwilling to consider any other option — that is, before he gets to work on what will become the band's biggest hit, "Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)."
In the book, Billy never questions whether he'll stay in the band.
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The Six vote on inviting Daisy into the band rather than a Rolling Stone cover story convincing them
In the book, Rolling Stone reporter Jonah Berg — who comes to play a significant role in the band's career — sees the Six perform and writes about it in a career-making cover story, "The Six That Should Be Seven." The story also sees Berg assert Daisy's role as a full-fledged member of the band.
Instead of a journalist playing the role of matchmaker in the series, it's Camila who ultimately opens the band's eyes to their need — and Billy's in particular — for Daisy. She invites Daisy to a party at her and Billy's house in episode 4 that ends with an impromptu acoustic performance by the band — Daisy included — of Frances' "Ooh La La," and an honest conversation between husband and wife about how the free-spirited redhead is exactly what Billy needs to take the band to the next level.
"It's exactly what you wanted," Camila tells Billy as she urges him to collaborate with Daisy. "And it's exactly what you need to get to where you want to go."
"I know," the Six's frontman agrees, unmistakably torn about welcoming a new member.
Graham makes the first move on Karen
In the book, a late-night phone call and subsequent hotel room rendezvous sparks the long-running affair that takes place between the band's pianist, Karen (Suki Waterhouse), and guitarist, Graham (Will Harrison). In the show, Graham surprises Karen with a kiss in a quiet moment — after Camila encourages him to (finally) make a move and the power goes out at a party — but her response is less than enthusiastic.
Graham admits his feelings after the surprise kiss — "I mean, you know, that I've always… Ever since that first night at the Staircase" — and then doubtfully asks Karen if there's hope for the two of them. "Never gonna happen for us, is it?"
"I think you're amazing," she tells him before walking away.
It's not until Karen sees Graham with a young college student — who is a Barry Manilow-lover, much to Graham's chagrin — and spends a day at the beach with them that her jealousy gets the best of her. The audience gets to see the pair's romance start to bloom in episode 5.
Lacey Terrell/Prime Video Riley Keough and Sam Claflin in Daisy Jones & The Six
Billy and Daisy kiss — for real
While the book hints at the sexual tension between the band's two lead singers, nothing physical ever really happens, aside from an almost kiss — more of a lip grazing — during a songwriting session. In the book, that almost is enough to drive both Billy and Daisy crazy.
In episode 6, viewers see their emerging romance come to life as Billy and Daisy share a passionate, possibly life-changing kiss.
For showrunner Scott Neustadter, having a real, physical moment between the two in the show was a no-brainer. "They tell the story and you start to wonder if he's being honest," he told Entertainment Weekly of Billy's account of his relationship with Daisy in the book. "How much is he saying and how much is he hiding?"
Keough, on the other hand, was more torn over the added detail. "I think half the readers would want them to kiss and half would be so angry that they kiss," she told EW.
But it's "a very complicated kiss," which Keough noted. "It's not straightforward. The way that it happened is complicated. It's still this grey area of, what was the intention? It adds to that tension between them and trying to figure out what is going on for Billy."
RELATED: Is Daisy Jones & the Six a Real Band? Here's Everything to Know
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Eddie harbors secret feelings for Camila
While Eddie's stolen glances at Camila would be difficult to go unnoticed in the show, a romantic storyline between the Six's lead guitarist and Billy's wife was not prevalent in the book.
After Camila is first introduced to Billy in episode 1, Eddie (Josh Whitehouse) shares his own history, revealing he attended Sunday school with her as a kid. "You couldn't help but fall in love with her, even then," he admits in an interview.
While the book hints of possible infidelity from Camila as she had what Billy called a "four hour" long lunch with her high school prom date, the show hints that it's Eddie that she's potentially shared an intimate moment with — only after she suspects infidelity from Billy and Daisy.
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Simone's love story
The show sees Daisy's best friend Simone's storyline completely expanded. In the book, readers know her as Daisy's confidante and about as close to family as Daisy has, but in the show the audience gets to see Simone's career — and love life — stand alone.
Episode 7 traces the disco star's journey after she leaves L.A. to move to New York City, where she lives with Bernice, her lover, and the two collaborate on music and perform for years before Simone rushes to Daisy's side after receiving a telegram that said, "I need you."
In Greece, Simone and Bernie say "I love you" to each other, and even share a kiss at Daisy's wedding, a big step after years of hesitance on Simone's part to go public with their romance.
In the book, Simone becomes an international star with her disco and R&B dance hits — with a whirlwind European tour to boot — but only after her first record flops and she's dropped by her original record label. There's no explicit mention of her sexuality.
Daisy's husband is an Irish aristocrat, not an Italian royal
In both the book and on screen, Daisy gets hitched after the band finishes recording "Aurora." However, where the book sees her marry Italian royalty during a whirlwind trip to Italy, the series sees her find love with an Irish aristocrat in Greece instead.
She always marries Nicky (Gavin Drea), and Simone always chases her down, but in the book, she escapes to Thailand, meets Nicky there, and flies back to Italy with him, where Simone eventually finds her and drags her back to L.A.
In the series, Nicky is a charming Irish PhD student who happens to own several properties across Europe and charms his way into Daisy's heart after she escapes to Hydra, a tropical island off the coast of Greece.
Daisy considers staying in Greece
Daisy's desire to tour with the Six following the release of "Aurora" is never a question in the book, but after she finds herself living on island time in the show, she tells Simone she's not planning on returning to the U.S. for the tour at all.
"Billy made me miserable and Nicky makes me happy," Daisy tells Simone ahead of her wedding to Nicky. "And I just wanna be happy. For once, I want to be the one that gets to be happy."
It's clear that her unresolved feelings for the Six frontman influence her decision to marry Nicky after just a month in Greece, but despite what comes next, she affirms that she has no regrets about her wedding day in an interview.
RELATED: Reese Witherspoon, Sam Claflin Praise Riley Keough in Daisy Jones & the Six: She 'Transformed'
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Karen tells the band about her and Graham's relationship
After Eddie and Warren make a bet to see if Graham will hook up with a roadie on the tour bus one night, which he doesn't, Karen reveals that she and the guitarist have been together for months, since the first "Aurora" recording sessions.
Eddie and Warren (Sebastian Chacon) are in disbelief as Karen affirms that Graham is not into men, nor is he suffering from erectile dysfunction — which the guitarist and drummer had guessed. After a steamy kiss on the tour bus in front of their bandmates in episode 8, Karen and Graham are together — and everyone knows it.
Billy and Nicky get into a fistfight
After days of worrying about Daisy's increased drug and alcohol use on tour, Billy confronts Nicky about it, telling him she's never taken this much. The men come to blows over Daisy after Nicky laughs off Billy's concern.
"You're s---, man," Billy says to Nicky. "You're nothing. And you'd be no one without her."
"I guess that makes two of us then, doesn't it," Nicky replies, and a fight breaks out between the two before Daisy rushes in, and the band's tour manager Rod (Timothy Olyphant) pulls Billy off her husband.
The men never physically fight in the book.
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Billy finds Daisy after her overdose
After marching into her hotel room with the intention of kicking her out of the band, Billy finds Daisy unconscious in the shower, despite her husband's refusal to let anyone in. A frightened Nicky immediately packs his bags and flees, leaving his wife without a word, as a panicked Billy tells Rod that she's "not breathing" and he calls for a doctor.
Episode 8 ends with Billy holding Daisy in the shower, begging her as he says "stay with me."
"It's you," is all Daisy says after she briefly opens her eyes to see Billy holding her.
In the book, Daisy overdoses while on a break from the "Aurora" tour. She's in Rome with Nicky, and his inability to care for her — all he does is put her in the shower after she's unconscious — opens her eyes to their incompatibility.
Finding him asleep, she packs her bags, leaves a note that she wants a divorce, and leaves Nicky without another word.
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Daisy Jones & The Six's season 1 finale drops March 24 on Prime Video.
