page_title: Self Control (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Self Control (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) / Production / Development
caption_attribution_description: English: Jed Whedon at PaleyFest 2014
context_page_description: "Self Control" is the fifteenth 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., seeing S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrated by Life Model Decoys. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The episode was written and directed by Jed Whedon, and serves as the last in the second "pod" of episodes for the season, subtitled LMD.
  Clark Gregg reprises his role as Phil 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. Whedon made his directorial debut with the episode, which explores the nature of reality and identity, and features a significant action sequence that took two days to film, a first for the series. Visual effects were used throughout the episode, including to depict the Triskelion building within the virtual reality of the Framework, as set up for the next pod of episodes for the season.
context_section_description: In early February 2017, Marvel announced that the fifteenth episode of the fourth season was titled "Self Control", written by executive producer Jed Whedon. A week later, Whedon was revealed to also be directing the episode, in his directorial debut. He felt comfortable taking on the challenge after being so closely involved with the series' cast and crew as showrunner alongside his wife Maurissa Tancharoen, and after seeing both his brother (and series creator) Joss Whedon and her brother Kevin Tancharoen directing episodes for the series. Whedon decided to make his debut during the fourth season after doing second unit work under Kevin on the third season episode "Spacetime".
  "Self Control" was described as "pivotal" for the season, serving as the conclusion of the LMD story arc, and containing set up for the final pod of episodes for the season. On choosing to direct this episode specifically, Whedon explained, "I figured just throw me in the deep end and see if I can swim, and I did write a little bit of a deep end in some of it. I think it worked out." Having Whedon both write and direct this episode meant for star Clark Gregg, "there's really no filter between the voice of this really wild episode ... and us. It's really kind of a pure conduit, which is great, because there's some very radical stuff happening, so it's great to be able to talk to him about it."
caption: Showrunner Jed Whedon made his directorial debut with this episode, which he also wrote.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "1600", "Image ImageLength": "1067", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS REBEL T3i", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2014:10:25 15:44:42", "Image Artist": "Dominick Dusseault", "Image Copyright": "iDominick Visual Media", "Image ExifOffset": "348", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1058", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "12271", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "3200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "3200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:03:23 14:30:20", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:03:23 14:30:20", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "477741/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "19/4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "123", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "802", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "908", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "Dominick Dusseault", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "132155001290", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[55, 250, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000356f42"}