Daisy Jones and the Six Recap: Episode 7 – Simone Storyline

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Daisy Jones & the Six Episode 7. Proceed at your own risk!

The seventh episode of Daisy Jones and the Six (Streaming now on Prime Video) had an unexpectedly bright star Newcomer Nabiyah Be’s character Simone Jackson.

As Daisy’s best friend and rising disco legend, Simone had an entire episode dedicated to her life, apart from Riley Keough’s eponymous singer/songwriter. This probably surprised many viewers of the show who also read Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel, since Simone’s character didn’t play that big a role in the book.

Episode 7 co-showrunner and director Will Graham admitted to TVLine that Simone’s expanded presence was something that had been in the works since the book TV adaptation began.

“I think it goes back to the very first conversation I had [executive producer] Lauren [Neustadter] And [co-showrunner] Scott [Neustadter], which now appears to be literally 20 million years ago, and said, ‘We want to see the whole life of this character,'” recalls Graham. “And in our first conversation with Taylor, we also said something like, ‘What are you most excited to see in the adaptation that you couldn’t do in the book?’ and she just said ‘Simone’.”

This episode not only explored how Simone found her sound in the world of disco, but also showcased her sexual identity as a queer black woman in a time when existing as such was difficult.

“We wanted to make sure she had her own story [as] a black woman who was also an innovator and made sure she wasn’t someone who was just trying to make generic music,” says Be.

With everything she had to play in that hour, Be was very excited to delve into Simone’s “romantic relationship, to feel comfortable in the club scenes, to fully understand that they both need to be themselves and be honest and have some of it.” can have the praise and attention she craves,” the actress shares.

During the episode, Simone traveled to New York City in hopes of a fresh start. Upon arrival, she sought out Bernie (played by Ayesha Harris), a DJ she had met at a party in the past. Within seconds of their reunion, Bernie was playing Simone’s song at a disco club and had her sing it live, which the crowd thoroughly enjoyed. For possibly the first time this season, viewers saw Simone get the hype she deserved.

What made the sequence even more special was the fact that “all the disco scenes [were] actually filmed in Athens, with an extra cast of mostly genuine queer African immigrants who didn’t have a club to go to,” reveals Graham. “So the story also became how we told it, and as a queer person it was just a privilege to be a part of bringing that story to screen because we really didn’t see it.”

As a result, Simone felt more comfortable performing, but she was still reluctant to speak openly about her relationship with Bernie. Despite the success she achieved, Simone was still willing to drop everything for Daisy, and do it right away. After receiving a cryptic message from Daisy, Simone fled to Greece thinking her friend was in trouble.

She and Bernie arrived in Greece only to find a blissfully dizzying newly engaged Daisy who only wanted her best friend at her upcoming wedding. Although Daisy seemed genuinely happy, Simone looked straight through the facade. She tried to convince Daisy to return to the band, but Daisy was reluctant because of what had happened between her and Billy. Simone tried to dissuade her by reminding her of who she really was, despite her new husband Nicky’s attempts to change her.

Nicky tried to convince Daisy that Simone wasn’t protecting her but that Simone was in love with her. Whether Daisy believed this or not is unknown, but she used Nicky’s words against Simone, which really upset her. A fed up Simone packed up her things and left, but not without giving Daisy her last two cents.

“I love you Daisy and I’m going to tell you what love is because you clearly have no fucking idea. It’s when someone tells you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it. I love you Daisy so I’ll tell you the truth: you’re a real selfish bitch,” Simone said.

While Episode 7 delved into aspects of Simone’s character not discussed in the book, it only scratched the surface.

“I think you could do a whole different show about Simone. I loved what they did with her character,” enthuses Reid.

What do you think of Simone’s expanded role? Hit the comments below with your thoughts!

(With report by Vlada Gelman)