I agree that the deux ex machina cheats the readers, but at the same time I think it cheats the writers too. I never used to have a problem with deux ex machina until I started writing. It was then I realised what a lazy resolution it is. I want the characters to suffer and work things out for themselves. I love the satisfaction of finding a better way, a foreshadowed way. I don't want to cheat myself out of that. At the same time, it does pose another interesting challenge for me. I want to make a credible character out of someone who is a walking deux ex machina. Can it be done? Time will tell.

Thank you for the article, Janra.
"There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." Tim Minear