Villainess Review: Duma (Supernatural)

Happy Halloween all! I had been wanting to write this review for the longest time, and this day is a perfect time to do so. The fact that it's Halloween is one reason, but another involves the actress pictured above: Erica Cerra. I've been a fan of Erica Cerra since Eureka, where she spent five seasons as the tough-as-nails Jo Lupo. Other than also playing the dual role of Becca and A.L.I.E. on The 100, Cerra's acting career includes an immense number of villainous roles, and while they have all been amazing, her best and most memorable evil role came during a two season span on Supernatural.

Season 13 was the fallout from the birth of Jack, the nephilim son of Lucifer and Kelly Kline, and in the episode "War of the Worlds," which actually aired on Thanksgiving 2017, Castiel found himself in a meeting with a fellow angel, Duma, regarding Jack's whereabouts. Her reasons weren't known in her introduction, but in their second meeting in front of the portal to Heaven, Duma makes her intentions clear: she wants Jack to create more angels, as the numbers were still thin after the fall (from Season 8's finale).

As Castiel put it, Jack was going to be their slave, and he later found himself encountered by a pair of sinister angels, who were joined by Duma in fighting and attacking Castiel. It's only when Lucifer appears that the attack is stopped, and Duma's later appearances in the season saw her refuse Lucifer's offers to take the throne, but once Lucifer informed Duma that he could create more angels, Duma agreed to let Lucifer take Heaven's throne. My goodness.

So that was Season 13. Season 14 saw Duma return in the episode "Byzantium," where she actually assisted Castiel in a search for Jack, who was human after his grace was lost, but he was also dying. The search saw Castiel find Jack inside an area of Heaven that belonged to Kelly, but afterwards, Duma suddenly appeared and acted quite strange...before being covered in darkness. As it turned out, Duma was possessed by The Shadow, an entity who controls "The Empty," where angels and demons go when they die. Castiel was in The Empty once, but escaped, and with that, he made a deal with The Shadow to return in Jack's placed. The possessed Duma agreed, but only on the condition that Castiel would be forced back into the empty the moment after his suffering ends.

After being freed from The Shadow, Duma made a brief return in "Absence," as she informed Castiel that Mary Winchester, who was killed by a repowered Jack, was in a special place in Heaven where she is reunited with husband John, however, the following episode, "Jack in the Box," revealed that Duma became the new Ruler of Heaven. Duma was informed about Jack losing his soul, and promised Castiel to help him, but as we would see, Duma's idea of "help" was to use Jack to commit bibical deaths in order to create more angels. Under the orders of the again heel Duma, Jack turned Dr. Harrison Tate, a known atheist, into a salt statue, and later abducted an entire congregation and took them to Heaven.

Castiel found out about Duma's power trip and confronted the diabolical angel, who claimed she was saving the entire world with her actions. In response to Castiel's plan to rescue Jack, Duma uttered the following threat:

"I'm holding the high cards here. Ma and Pa Winchester, they're living in their own personal Heaven. One snap of these fingers, and all of that ends."

Big mistake, Duma. Never threaten any member of the Winchester family to Castiel, who responded with an angel blade right in her chest.

Oh man! I absolutely loved Duma, and what made her even more epic was that Erica Cerra was playing this power-mad and maniacal villainess. She didn't really start that way. Her debut in Season 13 saw her as a genial angel, and even her first heel turn only saw her basically as a minion for Lucifer after betraying Castiel. This capture of Duma is from her appearance in "Byzantium," the moment after Duma's revealed to be possessed by The Shadow. I do love this capture, because it truly shows Duma's heel persona as she berates Castiel in her possessed form. However, even that doesn't beat Duma's latest heel turn in "Jack in the Box," as we see her true personality as a megalomaniacal mastermind. In that regard, this was Duma at her most evil and depraved, and Cerra truly nailed it in that episode and all of her other appearances.

Erica Cerra's run during Seasons 13 and 14 wasn't her first time on SPN; she actually appeared during the show's sixth season finale, which centered on the wall in Sam's soul crumbling down. I mentioned that Cerra has played her share of villainesses before, and they include Nikki Manders, an escaped soul from Hell (Reaper), vengeful tragic murderer Diane Torrance (Motive), criminal Jillian Whitman (Warehouse 13), traitoress Emma Correia (Sanctuary), and corrupt lawyer Athena Burns (Lucifer). However, Duma is her best one, and is undoubtedly SPN's best villainess so far. Cerra knocked it out of the park as the evil Duma in all of her appearances. She acted out every part of Duma's personality to perfection, her character's trip to the Face-Heel Revolving Door was amazing, and when it came to Duma's power-hungry demeanor, Cerra absolutely shined as she acted out that trait.

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Check out Duma's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!