The Apple TV+ series ‘Platonic’ revolves around the friendship between two middle-aged individuals, Will (Seth Rogen) and Sylvia (Rose Byrne). After years of estrangement, the former friends reconnect when Sylvia learns about Will’s divorce. Despite the initial awkwardness stemming from seeing someone for the first time in years, the two old friends quickly fall back into the old pattern. Sylvia and Will re-enter each other lives at a critical juncture, when they both are plagued by mid-life crises and aimlessness. Will feels stranded, alone, and self-destructive after the divorce, and even though Sylvia has a picture-perfect family, now that her children have begun to assert their independence, she feels some regret about leaving her career in law behind to raise them. ‘Platonic’ is about how these two people approach relationships, love, and marriage.
The narrative of the series is predominantly set in and around Los Angeles. In episode 3, the plot revolves around a restaurant chain called Johnny 66. If you are wondering whether that is a real restaurant chain, we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Is Johnny 66 a Real Restaurant Chain?
No, Johnny 66 is not a real restaurant chain. In ‘Platonic,’ Will co-owns a downtown Los Angeles brewery called Lucky Penny Brewing Co., where he serves as the brewmaster. The primary clientele of the business consists of young people, and Will has molded his life and personal fashion to reflect that. “It was fun portraying a bar,” Rogen said in an interview with the Nerds of Color. “Because whenever I go to a bar, I don’t have that much fun… Lucky Penny is not a real place, but we all kind of grew fond of it, and we all kind of started to really like hanging out there, and we were all like if this place were real, it would be great. It seemed like the most fun bar ever.”
In episode 3, Reggie, the majority shareholder in Lucky Penny, reveals to his two partners, Will and Andy, that he has spoken to Johnny Rev, the CEO of Johnny 66, who expressed his desire to enter into a licensing agreement with Lucky Penny. This will allow the restaurant chain to serve Lucky Penny’s beer in their facilities.
However, Will believes that a business collaboration with Johnny 66 is not ideal for their brewery, irrespective of how much money they can earn from the deal. Later in the episode, Sylvia convinces Will to come with her to a Jonny 66 restaurant. The theme of these restaurants seems to be mismatched retro, with the staff dressed like it’s the 1950s. Will and Sylvia put on the Johnny 66 merch and sit down to eat. Will has to admit that the food is pretty good there, even if the beer is terrible.
Sylvia helps Will navigate his sentiments about Johnny 66. He seems to think that associating with a conglomerate will not be seen as cool, but she points out that they are at an age when their priority shouldn’t be to seem cool but to behave like how old they are. His negative view of the restaurant also stems from the fact that the idea was brought to him by Reggie, who is a stepbrother of Audrey, his former wife. Will later discovers that Andy also wants to enter into a partnership with Johnny 66. Toward the end of the episode, Will agrees to host Johnny Rev at the brewery.
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