Protesting during the Sunset Strip Riot

Protesting during the Sunset Strip Riot was a formative night out for Daisy Jones and Simone Jackson, combining a protest against the curfew and police with hours of partying. Recalled by Simone, the episode also reveals how young Daisy was, how early drug use had become normalized around her, and why Simone came to feel that she was the person looking out for her.

Background and Setting

Simone places the episode during the Sunset Strip Riot, when she and Daisy went to Pandora’s to protest the curfew and the police. Daisy was about fifteen; Simone estimated that she was about nineteen. The age difference gives the recollection its uneasy undertone: they were together as companions, but Simone was also conscious of Daisy’s youth and vulnerability.

The Protest and Night Out

After protesting, Daisy and Simone met some actors and continued the night at Barney's Beanery. They then went to someone’s home, where Daisy passed out on the patio. The two did not go home until the following afternoon. The episode moves from public protest into a long, informal party, with no clear boundary between the demonstration and the risky night that followed.

Simone’s Concern and the Drug Context

Simone remembers wondering whether anybody cared about Daisy besides her. That concern sits alongside her account of bringing Daisy everywhere and thinking of her as the sister she never had. Her recollection makes the friendship more than a shared nightlife: Simone understood herself as someone responsible for staying close to a girl who was still a teenager.

Simone also recalls that speed was common among their circle, including among young Daisy. People took uppers to stay thin and remain awake through the night, often using bennies or black beauties. Daisy’s own retrospective account describes diet pills as an easy, barely recognized choice; cocaine was taken when available, and at first it did not feel like getting high or addiction. Together, the accounts place Daisy’s collapse on the patio within a social setting where drug use was routine even as its risks were minimized.