"Broken Promises" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they are attacked by a rogue Life Model Decoy (LMD). It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Brent Fletcher and directed by Garry A. Brown, serving as the first in the second "pod" of episodes for the season, subtitled LMD.
Clark Gregg reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, and is joined by series regulars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Henry Simmons, and John Hannah. Recurring guest star Mallory Jansen portrays Aida, the LMD that attacks S.H.I.E.L.D. A second version of Aida is also introduced, with Jansen wearing a slightly different costume to highlight the change. Another storyline follows recurring guest star Parminder Nagra as Senator Ellen Nadeer and Manish Dayal as her brother Vijay. For this subplot, Henstridge had to learn a Southern American accent and film a rare action sequence for her character.
"Broken Promises" originally aired on ABC on January 10, 2017, and was watched by 4.66 million viewers within a week of its release according to Nielsen Media Research. Critical response to the episode was mostly positive, with reviewers feeling the episode was a strong beginning to the LMD arc and praising the comedic performances of Simmons and guest star Natalia Cordova-Buckley. However, the Nadeer subplot received mixed responses, with some considering it to be a "step back" for the series.
Plot
After gaining control of the Darkhold, the Book of Sins, S.H.I.E.L.D. looks to destroy it to keep it from being used for evil. Agent Leo Fitz and Dr. Holden Radcliffe are sent to clear the memory of the android Aida they have built, as she has read the book. However, Aida's reading of the Darkholds secrets appears to have granted her sentience, she overpowers the pair. She then takes control of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems, and attacks the secret facility in search of the book.
Vijay Nadeer recovers at a family home after spending several months inside an Inhuman Terrigen cocoon. He is looked after by his sister, Senator Ellen Nadeer, who is the leader of the Humans First political movement; the siblings have a hatred for aliens after their mother died during an alien attack, and agreed that if either was "infected" and revealed as an Inhuman, the other would kill them. Nadeer orders a group of Watchdogs—anti-Inhuman terrorists she has aligned herself with—to kill her brother. He asks her to spare him, as he has not shown any sign of Inhuman abilities, but when S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Jeffrey Mace arrives with Agents Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons after Simmons had helped Vijay escape his cocoon, Vijay exhibits enhanced reflexes. Ellen convinces Vijay to go with her rather than S.H.I.E.L.D., but as they escape in a helicopter, Ellen kills her brother and dumps his body in a lake, where it is enveloped in another Terrigen cocoon.
Agent Phil Coulson gives the location of the Darkhold to Agent Melinda May, who Aida has replaced with a Life Model Decoy—an android replica. From this, Aida finds the book. Fitz is able to take back control of the facility's systems before Aida can escape, and Agent Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie beheads the android with his ax. Radcliffe later laments about this to a new model of Aida, as he believes the book holds the secret to eternal life and wants it for himself. He had programmed the original Aida's apparent sentience in an attempt to steal the Darkhold, but must now rely on the May LMD to retrieve it for him.
Production
Development and writing
In December 2016, the mid-season finale episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics", ended with the android Aida seemingly replacing main character Melinda May with a Life Model Decoy, a replica android. Executive producer Jed Whedon explained that LMDs would be the subject of the season's next "pod" of episodes, subtitled LMD. He also said that the reintegration of Daisy Johnson into S.H.I.E.L.D. would be explored following her vigilante actions in the previous pod, Ghost Rider, and executive producer Maurissa Tancharoen added that at least the first episode of the second pod would deal with the mystery surrounding Senator Ellen Nadeer and her Inhuman brother.