The Vampire Diaries
Season 7 Episode 9: “Cold as Ice”
Directed by Geoffrey Wing Shotz
Written by Brian Young
Created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec
Starring Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Kat Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Matthew Davis, Michael Malarkey, Scarlett Byrne, Todd Lasance
The CW
Air Date: Thursday, December 10, 2015, 8pm

The midseason finale of The Vampire Diaries helped move the plot closer to this “three years from now” world we keep getting glimpses of, and continued to explore the common TVD themes of kindness, family, revenge, and betrayal.

Spoilers ahead.

In Chicago three years from now, we see Valerie (Elizabeth Blackmore) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) together as a couple. At the beginning of the season, this idea would have seemed crazy, but the story has brought the two closer and closer together, and this couplet is very believable. Stefan declares that he must go save Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Caroline (Candice Accola King) because they are both people he cares about, and that Valerie can’t come because he won’t add a third to the list of people he loves that are missing.

Arrow
Season 4 Episode 9: “Dark Waters”
Directed by John Behring
Written by Wendy Mericle & Ben Sokolowski
Created by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg
Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, John Barrowman, Paul Blackthorne
The CW
Air Date: Wednesday, December 9th, 2015, 8:00pm

Last week on Arrow, we got the second half of the 2-night crossover event, which had the two camps hiding out in the country. Oliver (Stephen Amell) ran a secret DNA test through Barry (Grant Gustin) and “It’s a boy!” Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) found out and their relationship seems over. They meet Savage (Casper Crump) with a plan and everyone dies, except Barry. HE runs back in time, and tells Oliver, who makes a different plan in both Savage strategy and Felicity strategy.

Spoilers below.

Iskald means “ice cold” in Norwegian. So it is appropriate that today’s Black Metal Friday artists chose the word as their moniker. Iskald, the band, perfectly capture the forlorn desolation of the frozen North. Over the course of ten years and four full-length albums, this quartet has been winning over legions of black metal fans with their alternately haunting and brutal take on the genre.

This week’s featured Black Metal Friday track comes from Iskald’s second album, 2008’s Revelations of Reckoning Day. I give you “Dommedag.”

The DCCU is just starting to grow, and will start expanding even further with two films next year: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. The latter will also have Batman appear for a sizable role. Also appearing in that film is Will Smith in a supporting role – of all things – as DC’s top assassin, Deadshot. The character has been known to never miss, and has often crossed paths with other DC characters.

Though it is not clear how much screentime Smith will get in Suicide Squad, sharing it with an ensemble of villains, it’s likely that he won’t be the star of the film. So now it is starting to look like Smith may be more involved in the DCU beyond his role in Suicide Squad. According to a new rumor, there is a good chance that Smith may reprise his role as Deadshot in the upcoming Batman film starring Ben Affleck. More on the story below.

This week, Samsung vs. Apple— the final round?, Britain responds to terror on social media, has the real genius behind bitcoin finally been discovered?, and what happened to Apple design?!…All this and more … on The Drill Down.