S01.E08: Track 8: Looks Like We Made It

[AnimeMania]

As the Aurora tour begins, the band — now reunited with Daisy Jones — must come to terms with their meteoric rise to superstardom. With tension between Billy and Daisy at an all-time high, Billy’s frustration simmers to a boil while Daisy’s self-destructive habits turn tragic. Meanwhile Karen and Graham’s secret is revealed.

Premiere Date: March 16, 2023    Prime Video

[chocolatine]

While Billy's concern about Daisy's drug use was legitimate, he's been annoying since the start of the tour. Does he think that sobriety means never having any fun?

Daisy and Karen on stage are obvious rip-offs of Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie, respectively. I wish the show had given them more of their own musical identity.

[MrPissyPuppy]

It's kind of funny that the title "Looks Like We Made It" is a Manilow song after Graham and Karen dissed him a few episodes ago. 

 

[lilmarysunshine]

I just caught up on this show and don’t know how I feel about it. It is easy to watch - is that a good thing? I always find myself annoyed by things so I am a tough audience but this is so cliched. Tortured rock stars. I find the Daisy character the worst - flouncing around on stage, hard to handle. 

I hope it gets better. I am surprised there is not more traffic here, though.

[Cthulhudrew]

The show has improved since the first three, but I think it needed a few more episodes early on to really give the characters time to live and breathe so that I cared about them more. Or at least they needed tighter writing in those first three.

[magdalene]

The highlight of this episode for me was Rod.  Tim Olyphant is always such a joy to watch what ever he is in. I feel bad for Camille and the rest of the band for having to put up with the Daisy/Billy crap.  Of course Daisy's dud  husband is making her even more of a train wreck.

[HelloooKitty]

She really is incredibly selfish and self centered. I’m not saying Billy is tons better, but I feel like he’s at least trying and she doesn’t give a shit. 

[dmc]

I’ve had this book forever and still haven’t read it.

I am watching the show and I’m just iffy on it. 

I guess I’m just not interested in enough in the Daisy/Billy dynamic for it to be an entire show.  I refuse to believe they are star crossed lovers. They are both talented musicians/addicts.  I guess if I had to choose, I would say, I like Daisy, slightly more than Billy who’s the worst.  His entire personality is just permanently disgruntled. 
 

But essentially, there’s nothing keeping these two apart.  He could call it quits with Camille. I’m not sure why we’re being treated to all the longing looks and angst.


Camille, how do you stand Billy? 

 

I like the music, the fashion and 70s vibe. 

[AuntieMame]

 

On 3/19/2023 at 6:18 PM, dmc said:

But essentially, there’s nothing keeping these two apart.  He could call it quits with Camille. I’m not sure why we’re being treated to all the longing looks and angst. 

Camille, how do you stand Billy?

I like the music, the fashion and 70s vibe. 

I don’t know why Camilla wants Billy either except a combination of holdover from a teenage love, codependence being his stable point in the world and now being married to a successful rockstar. Camilla has her own under-explored talents. Why for example didn’t she do the shoot for the album cover? She’s had some other successes. Why didn’t they keep it in the family for Camilla? 
 
Im with you on every point. Not only do I not like them, but they aren’t selling me two people with a passionate attraction and attachment that is emotional And physical.  
 
This kind of thing can be sold. I’ll give two examples, one a bit ridiculous and one sublime. The Age of Innocence with Daniel Day Lewis and Michele Pfeifer. You felt the longing of those two characters in your soul as a viewer. The other example is Fitz and Olivia on Scandal. Yes, yes I know, but Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn made me believe in lust and limerence with those two if not always love.  
 
Daisy and Billy just seem like they want to kill each other even taking into account that aggression can play a part in an attraction that can’t be consummated. When Billy told Daisy that he didn’t realize she was so broken and that this gave them commonality, I should have felt that as a moment of love and revelation and compassion. I didn’t. 
 
When Billy said that the kiss was to get Daisy back into the studio? That the kiss was in fact gaslighting manipulation and ruthlessly pragmatic? I believed him and believed he was a cold bastard. I think the viewer was supposed to think that Billy was lying to protect himself from being vulnerable but I didn’t believe it. Even the adolescent level jealousy and lack of confidence doesn’t ring true with these characters. 
 
Maybe it’s just bad acting or writing. I had issues with the book too. And I shouldn’t have. A modern epistolary format of created documents about a rock scandal? Character portraits of talented artists set against the backdrop of an interesting time and place and a creative time for an artistic genre? I should have eaten that up with a spoon. But it didn’t work. I’m reading the book again to see if I can figure out exactly what goes wrong because I like Taylor Jenkins Reid. 
 
The fashion lover and historian in me is loving the costuming and the sets. I like that Daisy is beautiful but not plastic beautiful. I wish both of them sang a little better. 
 
This should be astounding, book and series. The ingredients are there and yet it isn’t quite cake. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by AuntieMame

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, AuntieMame said:

I don’t know why Camilla wants Billy either except a combination of holdover from a teenage love, codependence being his stable point in the world that helps him hold it together and now being married to a successful rockstar. 

I think at this point it's mostly the latter. The teenage love died when she caught him with the two groupies during the first tour. Things were never the same again between them after that. And she was the one who pushed the hardest for Daisy to join the band, even though she must have known that it would make Billy and Daisy grow very close to each other. I think she wants to prove to herself that her decision to follow Billy to LA wasn't a mistake, so she's working hard to help him and the band succeed even though her heart is not really in the marriage anymore.

Edited March 20, 2023 by chocolatine

[dmc]

1 hour ago, AuntieMame said:

This kind of thing can be sold. I’ll give two examples, one a bit ridiculous and one sublime. The Age of Innocence with Daniel Day Lewis and Michele Pfeifer. You felt the longing of those two characters in your soul as a viewer. The other example is Fitz and Olivia on Scandal. Yes, yes I know, but Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn made me believe in lust and limerence with those two if not always love.

Agreed it can be sold but not here.  I don’t know what’s wrong maybe it’s the acting or maybe they didn’t have enough time to create a connection script wise. Especially with two characters that are kind of unlikable.  It seems like the episodes just fly by.  But for an entire show that’s hanging on the connection of two people, no. 
 

Worse, it’s making Billy look like a terrible person and Daisy look unhinged. The scene where they’re doing the photography as a band and Daisy’s like why did you bring her, Camille?  I mean nothings happened… they act like they’ve had a full-blown affair when nothings happened. 
 

32 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

I think at this point it's mostly the latter.

Yeah, I can’t stand Billy I think he’s literally has the worst personality in the entire world.  Yeah he is a substance abuse, problem. Yeah, he’s a cheater, but he’s also just awful to be around.

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by dmc

[grawlix]

4 hours ago, dmc said:

Camille, how do you stand Billy? 

 

2 hours ago, AuntieMame said:

I don’t know why Camilla wants Billy either except a combination of holdover from a teenage love, codependence being his stable point in the world that helps him hold it together and now being married to a successful rockstar. Camilla has her own under-explored talents. Why for example didn’t she do the shoot for the album cover? She’s had some other successes. Why didn’t they keep it in the family for Camilla? 

I think Camilla suffers from the sunken cost fallacy.  She has  invested so much into her relationship with Billy that she can't just give up on him for the sake of their daughter.  It also appeared that she came from a traditional family upbringing where divorce is probably frowned upon.

At that point in time, Camilla photography is more like a hobby than a profession.  She doesn't have the reputation to merit the responsibility of an album photo shoot.   The band doesn't have enough clout with the publisher to request Camille be in charge of the photo shoot.  How they manage to get two buses for the tour seems like pure fiction to me.

I did notice that in an earlier "present time" interview, she was referred to as "Camilla Alvarez" instead of "Camilla Dunne".  Is Alvarez her maiden name?  Did she not change her name to Dunne or does that mean she later divorced Billy?

[AuntieMame]

9 hours ago, grawlix said:

 

I think Camilla suffers from the sunken cost fallacy.  She has  invested so much into her relationship with Billy that she can't just give up on him for the sake of their daughter.  …

At that point in time, Camilla photography is more like a hobby than a profession.  She doesn't have the reputation to merit the responsibility of an album photo shoot.   The band doesn't have enough clout with the publisher to request Camille be in charge of the photo shoot.  How they manage to get two buses for the tour seems like pure fiction to me. 

Oh that sunken cost fallacy has brought many people to grief over the years. One of my grandfather’s favorite aphorisms was “Don’t throw good money after bad.” He didn’t just mean money either the way he used the quotation. The idea that things just have to work out/pay off if only you just persevere is a common slow poison. 
 
As for the photography, everyone needs a first break. The show has talked about Camille having photography gigs here and there. The idea of trying to at least suggest her for the album cover or get her there so she could assist and learn from the principal photographer for a credit doesn’t seem so crazy to me. Especially for a band that has recently gotten breaks they needed. 
 
While I like Camille better than Billy or Daisy, she is written as a bit of a trope. The rock or artist wife attracted by talent but with none of her own. In reality, talented and creative people like to be around other talented and creative people. 
 
The show goes down easily enough when I’m watching, as is the reread of the book so far but when I think about it a lot of things just fall flat. 

[Haleth]

I don't mind Billy's attitude.  He's struggling with his addiction and being around these people 24/7 must be exhausting.  He hasn't lectured anyone about their drugs and drinking except for Daisy because it's affecting everyone else.  Certainly he must be thinking of his own inability to handle fame during his own first concert tour.  I'm just glad the show hasn't gone the way of making him relapse with all the temptation around him.

Daisy, on the other hand, is a hot mess.

[chitowngirl]

On 3/18/2023 at 7:19 PM, lilmarysunshine said:

I hope it gets better. I am surprised there is not more traffic here, though.

I know people who don’t start a series until all the episodes have dropped….

[millennium]

This series doesn't do itself any favors by framing scenes with songs by actual 70s rock phenomenons.   It only highlights the Partridge Family quality of the songwriting for the show (if I'm being honest, the Partridge Family was way better than these guys).  And it was just plain hubris to go there with "Gold Dust Woman."    

[DanaMB]

On 3/25/2023 at 4:27 AM, millennium said:

This series doesn't do itself any favors by framing scenes with songs by actual 70s rock phenomenons.   It only highlights the Partridge Family quality of the songwriting for the show (if I'm being honest, the Partridge Family was way better than these guys).  And it was just plain hubris to go there with "Gold Dust Woman."    

I keep remembering early in the series when they were complaining they sounded too pop when they were rock and roll. Ummmm…not much has changed. 

[millennium]

1 hour ago, DanaMB said:

Ummmm…not much has changed. 

I know the show was aiming for a Fleetwood Mac vibe but the nearest thing their (Billy and Daisy) singing reminds me of is Stevie Nicks and Kenny Loggins doing "Whenever I Call You Friend" (a song I happen to hate).

Edited March 27, 2023 by millennium

[Sweet-tea]

This episode was hard to watch. I’m so irritated by Daisy. Yes, Billy is joyless but it must be tough for him staying sober around all the drinking and drugging. I’m glad he hasn’t relapsed. But Daisy was so reckless this episode that the crash was inevitable. It’s close but I give her the edge for being more irritating. 

I take back my earlier favorable comment about her husband. He’s horrible! I must’ve been blinded by the first glimpse of him. I can’t believe he bailed and was going to leave her for dead. 

Agree with others about the Daisy/Billy relationship not working. I don’t see the chemistry. I only see bickering and angst, longing looks from Billy aside. There is something intangible that happens when two actors have real chemistry. It somehow translates to the screen and jumps out at the viewers. I am not feeling it with Daisy and Billy, no matter how many fights they have. I didn’t even feel it in their big kissing scene. 

Watching Daisy singing drugged out makes me want to look up some Fleetwood Mac videos to see if there are any of Stevie Nicks out of her head. The band members were all indulging pretty heavily in the ‘70s so maybe the footage is out there. I remember reading about them doing lines during shows or… wait. That might have been the Eagles. Maybe it was both! Ah, the 70s…

 

[MJ Frog]

On 3/25/2023 at 4:27 AM, millennium said:

And it was just plain hubris to go there with "Gold Dust Woman."  

Indeed. And it really does make the music of the show that much more pedestrian. The older I get the more I believe that "Gold Dust Woman" is one the greatest pop recordings ever, and it is quite a jolt to be reminded that, oh yeah, THIS is what the show was going for, this is how we're supposed to believe everyone feels about this music. Which, to be fair, is impossible. Fleetwood Mac was Fleetwood Mac for a reason. Putting The Six's music alongside theirs is like comparing a rose in full bloom to a dandelion.