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Downton Abbey: A New Era · 2022 — Chapter 14 of 18 · 2'12" · B2

Guy Offers Barrow a Hollywood Job, Explained: await developments

Guy Dexter, an American movie star staying at Downton, slips downstairs to offer the butler Barrow a place at his side in Hollywood. He dismisses the household's rules, jokes that Barrow, not Carson, is now in charge, and makes the offer personal: "Make us both comfortable."

What happens

Guy Dexter visits Barrow downstairs and refuses to be called sir, saying he has lived in America for ten years and no longer believes in the old formalities. He offers Barrow a job in Hollywood, not as a valet but as someone to run his household and travel with him, and asks Barrow to decide.

Job interviewSmall talkInvitingPersuadingBoss & employeeB2mediumbritishClean
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Listen for

await developmentssee for yourselfmake ofin charge

00:00 / 02:12
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  26. ❝ MonologueThe Hollywood butler offer10 linesPractice page ↗
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Phrase of the scene

await developments

静观事态发展

客人邀请男仆同去美国，男仆推说先回家等消息，看事情如何发展。

The company is awaiting developments before making a statement.

Also in this scene

  • see for yourself

    亲自去看看

  • make of

    对……的看法；理解

  • in charge

    负责；主管

Everything marked in this scene

29 notes across 40 lines

Phrase · A2the way to a placeIs this the way to find Mr. Barrow?
Phrase · B1where someone hidesOh.So this is where you hide.
Phrase · A2help with somethingCan I help with anything, sir?
Phrase · B1help by doing somethingWell, you can certainly help by not calling me 'sir.'
Phrase · B2make of somethingI'm not sure what Mr. Carson would make of my receiving a visit from an upstairs guest, Mr. Dexter.
Phrase · B1a visit from someoneI'm not sure what Mr. Carson would make of my receiving a visit from an upstairs guest, Mr. Dexter.
Grammar · B2what Mr. Carson would make of

nominal clause with what

I'm not sure what Mr. Carson would make of my receiving a visit from an upstairs guest, Mr. Dexter.
Soundmake of

liaison

I'm not sure what Mr. Carson would make of my receiving a visit from an upstairs guest, Mr. Dexter.
Phrase · B1be in chargeWell, Mr. Carson isn't in charge now.
Phrase · B1suppose someone does somethingSuppose someone comes in. What would they say?
Grammar · B2Suppose someone comes in

imperative suppose

Suppose someone comes in. What would they say?
Phrase · B1believe in somethingI don't believe in that stuff anymore.
Phrase · B1that stuffI don't believe in that stuff anymore.
Slang · B1that stuffI don't believe in that stuff anymore.
Phrase · C1await developmentsI shall go home and await developments.
Phrase · B2be a little wild for someoneWell, he's a little wild for me, but yeah, I-I know him.
Phrase · A2a place called somethingHollywood gets some bad publicity, but I live in a place called Hancock Park, and it's... it's pretty nice.
Phrase · B1see for yourselfWell, why don't you come and see for yourself?
Soundsee for yourself

liaison

Well, why don't you come and see for yourself?
Phrase · A2look after someoneI travel a lot for my work, and I don't have a wife to look after me, so...
Phrase · B1more than thatMore than that.
Phrase · B1run the houseYou'd run the house and organize our journeys, make me comfortable.
Phrase · B1make someone comfortableYou'd run the house and organize our journeys, make me comfortable.
Grammar · B2You'd run the house

would for hypothetical duties

You'd run the house and organize our journeys, make me comfortable.
Soundrun the house

liaison

You'd run the house and organize our journeys, make me comfortable.
Phrase · B1think againOf course, if my career folds, then we'd have to think again, but...
Grammar · B1if my career folds

conditional clause

Of course, if my career folds, then we'd have to think again, but...
Phrase · A2let someone knowyou let me know when you've...
Phrase · B2come to a decisioncome to a decision.

Guy Offers Barrow a Hollywood Job, explained

What's really going on

The scene is a quiet proposal built on class and loneliness. Guy Dexter treats the rules that govern Downton as a joke, telling Barrow that "Mr. Carson isn't in charge now. You are," and admitting he has left all that behind: "I don't believe in that stuff anymore." What he is really offering is not a job but a life, and the tender vagueness of his wording is the point. When Barrow asks if he would simply be a valet, the answer is "More than that," and then, carefully, "Make us both comfortable." Both men understand what is being asked without either naming it. Guy is a star with money and no wife; Barrow is a servant with no future and no one. The offer gives each of them the thing the other lacks, and the scene ends not with a yes but with an open door: come to a decision.

Theme

IdentityGuy brushes off rank and formality, and the offer lets Barrow imagine a life where he is more than a servant.
ClassA Hollywood star ignores the household's rules, and the proposal quietly crosses the line between master and servant.

What you'll learn

  • 'in charge' carries more than its dictionary gloss.
  • 'look after' changes the pressure of the reply.
  • The surrounding lines set the social temperature.

Listen for

  • make of — liaison
  • see for yourself — liaison
  • run the house — liaison
I don't believe in that stuff anymore.

Guy's dismissal of the old social rules he was raised with, the same rules that still govern everyone at Downton.

I shall go home and await developments.

His plan for the immediate future: return home and wait to see how things turn out before making any move.

Well, why don't you come and see for yourself?

Guy turns his offer into an invitation, asking Barrow to visit Hollywood so he can judge the life for himself.

Hollywood gets some bad publicity, but I live in a place called Hancock Park, and it's... it's pretty nice.

He answers Barrow's doubts about Hollywood by describing his own comfortable neighborhood, softening the pitch with honesty.

Questions about this scene

Why does Guy offer Barrow a job?

He travels constantly for his career and has no wife to look after him, so he wants someone to run his household and organize his journeys.

Why does Barrow hesitate over the offer?

He assumes it means working as a valet, which is still a servant's role, and the offer asks him to leave Downton and the life he knows.

What kind of life is Guy proposing?

He is offering a shared life, not just a job: Barrow would run the household and travel with him so that both of them are comfortable.

Who does Guy say is now in charge at Downton?

He tells Barrow that Carson is no longer in charge and that Barrow is, which is both a joke and a nudge about his own position.

What is Guy's attitude toward the rules at Downton?

He treats them lightly. He jokes about them, refuses to be called sir, and says that after ten years in America he no longer believes in that stuff.

Downton Abbey: A New Era · 18 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 15an object of desireBarber Asks to Kiss Mary
Chapter 1who are we to argueViolet Gives Sybbie a French VillaChapter 2take a dim viewJack Barber Pitches Filming at DowntonChapter 3wouldn't hear of itHollywood Comes to DowntonChapter 4frighten the horsesThe Family Dines with Myrna DalgleishChapter 5eye someone upDinner at the Villa of the DovesChapter 6in a wayTom and Lucy Inherit the VillaChapter 7perform miraclesMary Saves the TalkieChapter 8On an impulseMolesley Pitches His Own EndingChapter 9trouble in paradiseMary Talks About Her MarriagesChapter 10more than capableRobert Learns Cora Is IllChapter 11in your handsMyrna Walks Off the SetChapter 12washed upThe Maids Talk Myrna DownChapter 13had in mindViolet Says Goodbye to TomWatching · Chapter 14await developmentsGuy Offers Barrow a Hollywood JobChapter 15an object of desireBarber Asks to Kiss MaryChapter 16a fool for loveViolet Tells Mary the TruthChapter 17what the blazesMolesley Proposes to BaxterChapter 18last the courseViolet's Deathbed Goodbyes
Chapter 14 of 18 · about 9 min to go