Agents of SHIELD Season 4, Episode 9 Spoilers: “Broken Promises” – Coulson Unaware of May’s True Nature; Storyline Shifts to LMDs

Agents of SHIELD season 4’s episode 9, titled “Broken Promises,” is set to follow Coulson as he remains oblivious of May’s true nature. Aida, meanwhile, continues searching for the mysterious tome Darkhold. The series’ storyline is set to shift its focus on the LMDs.

The brief synopsis for “Broken Promises” posted on TV.com reads, “Aida (Mallory Jansen) continues her search for the Darkhold, while Coulson (Clark Gregg) remains unaware of "May"'s (Ming-Na Wen) true nature.”

“Broken Promises” is set to kick off the series’ Life-Model Decoys (LMD) storyline. The Life-Model Decoy was a dismissed project but was eventually retrieved by former GT Agrochemical researcher Doctor Holden Radcliff. These LMDs were created to take the form of a living person, thereby creating a duplicate or a body double of that person.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Jed Whedon explained, "Radcliffe has a good heart, but he's willing to do anything for science… He's excited about the prospect. He said Fitz [Iain De Caestecker] and Simmons [Elizabeth Henstridge] had friends die and maybe they didn't have to. He's clearly opening a box. Whether or not it's Pandora's box, we'll see."

Executive producer Maurissa Tancharoen confirmed the series’ shift in focus to the Radcliff and the LMDs saying, "To someone like Radcliffe, he might believe that to be just the next step in human evolution. There are a number of people who are into body modification now, so what does that mean? What's the root of that? Now we are going to dive deeper into this man, Radcliffe, who is into that endeavor."

Whedon added, "He thinks there's something beyond humans. What that will turn into, we'll have to wait and see… We've talked about what are the differences between people with powers and people without powers and I think our show started as not all heroes are super because we were about the little guy who doesn't have powers.”

He continued, “Now, some of our people do have powers and some of them don't. Next year, with the advances in technology, we might be asking the question of, 'If you can have this, do you want it?' And a little bit of be careful what you wish for. That's about as specific as we can get."

It seems that as Coulson and May get closer, he remains unaware of her dark secret. However, Coulson may be just be getting closer to the truth behind his friend May and her other identity.

Meanwhile, Aida continues her search for the Darkhold, a mysterious book that corrupts human minds. Aida was introduced as the very first LMD created by Radcliffe to serve as his personal assistant. Season 3’s closing scene showed Radcliffe gifting Aida with a new robotic form.

In the incoming episode’s sneak peak, Aida begins showing signs of superior intelligence and awareness. When Radcliffe attempts to turn her off, she warns, “I made a few upgrades of my own,” before proceeding to attack.

Agents of SHIELD season 4’s episode 9, titled “Broken Promises,” is scheduled to air on ABC on January 10, 2017. It was directed by Garry A. Brown and written by Brent Fletcher. It will be followed by episode 10, titled "The Patriot," set to be released on January 17.