Deus Ex 'Scuse Me: Difference between revisions

Example: A kid wanders into an antiques store, and the owner tells him not to touch anything. Suddenly, the phone rings. When the owner leaves to answer it, the kid touches something and it breaks. Cue plot. The [[Deus Ex Scuse Me{{PAGENAME}}]] in this scene is the off-screen phone call-- itcall—it draws the owner out of the scene so the kid can break the antique.

The inciting incident in a [[Deus Ex Scuse Me{{PAGENAME}}]] often requires immediate attention, so the character has to rush out quickly. Phone calls are used frequently nowadays. Other urgent excuses include oven timers, guests arriving, someone calling for the character, forgetting an item and having to go back for it... the options are as endless as the writer's imagination.

[[Sub-Trope]] of [[Room Shuffle]]. Compare [[I Need to Go Iron My Dog]] when it's the ''character'' making an excuse to call themselves away from a room. This trope may be induced by others when [[We Need a Distraction]]. Name derived from "[[Deus Ex Machina]]"-- instead—instead of something randomly showing up to save the day, it's something randomly showing up to cull the cast.

* ''[[The Avengers (1998 film)|the 1998 film version of ''The Avengers 1998]]'']]. Steed and Mrs. Peel are at Wonderland Weather getting a tour from the receptionist. There's a noise (telephone ring?) elsewhere and the receptionist leaves, allowing Steed and Mrs. Peel to look around unnoticed.

* ''[[Speed]]'' (1994). Howard Payne happens to be using the bathroom precisely when {{spoiler|the police activate the camera spoof, thus allowing the deception to work.}}

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* Used twice in the TV adaptation of ''[[Goosebumps]]''' "The Haunted Mask", both with a ringing phone-- thephone—the first time, the mask shop owner is called away, allowing Carly-Beth to explore the forbidden section of the mask shop where she finds the haunted mask. Second time, Carly-Beth's mother wants to check on her costume (she thinks Carly-Beth is going out as a duck), but a phone call draws her into another room, allowing Carly-Beth to slip out.

* ''[[Law and& Order]]'' does this a lot- pick a series, pick an episode, someone answers their cell and walks out of the scene.

[[Category:Deus Ex Scuse Me{{PAGENAME}}]]