I’ve been thinking for a while about Angela. A few weeks, actually. I used to abhor Angela. Hate her. I used to want to go into the Criminal Case universe and beat her to a pulp - or worse. But no. She isn’t as bad as I thought. Nowhere near.
Sadistic? No. She takes no pride in hurting others.
Abusive? No. There was no proof and no reason to hurt Lars or her girls.
Obsessed? No. Just protective. Hell, for example, my dad’s overprotective over me, but he doesn’t obsess over my safety. I’m just dear to him.
Ex-wife? Who knows? S3 was the last time we saw her or Lars. They could have divorced. There’s a good chance they did, despite the fact they clearly still cared for each other. Maybe she wanted him to move on. She had to be brave and let him go.
Angela was adopted by SOMBRA at the age of 8 following the death of her bio parents. They likely brainwashed her into following their ideals, and if you’re brainwashed at a young age, do you even know you’re brainwashed? No. She was perfect for SOMBRA - until she met and fell for Lars. The first time she disobeyed them. And she had kids - triplets, three beautiful daughters. She loved her family so much that she would do anything for them.
Even the worst...
Enter spoiler territory. And trigger warnings for experiments, sexual assault, and murder. Also, Chief King and Frank Knight spoilers, because of comparisons.
The plane crash in Madagascar. It was a warning. The Bureau was getting close, especially after finding out about the child experiments. She was against that. She would never want to hurt a kid. She was a proud mother and made a charity for kids (then put it under Lars’ name so SOMBRA couldn’t get it).
Angela is many things. A murderer, sadly, is one of them. I doubt she really wanted Lavinia dead. But what else could she do? Tell the team “Oh hi, I’m the SOMBRA mole”? No, she’d be arrested. Sure, that’s what happened, but she was hoping that someone else could take the fall. She’d feel bad, but... SOMBRA is all she remembered, all she knew. And she was probably scared.
Not only was her life in danger from that plane crash but so was everyone else’s. Including Lars, the love of her life. She must’ve been very thankful that the triplets weren’t with them. But still. She saw it as a threat to her life and her family’s lives. She was scared, but acted in the shadows and killed Lavinia.
And although Lavinia’s a rotten bitch, (I mean, look what she did to Jack, the man was drunk and couldn’t consent!) she didn’t deserve death. But she was gonna out Angela and put her life in danger. A SOMBRA agent who’s been found out isn’t as useful. Or a loose end to cut off. Besides, she did admit that she didn’t want to hurt anyone when she hired Aristide. But they were closing in and she was desperate. And scared. Scared enough to do something brave and hire a hitman. A shame her bravery came along with illegal actions.
But what if she stayed on the Bureau’s side? Well, we all know what happened to Michelle. It could’ve easily been Angela if she had stayed.
And in court, when she said she was proud, and did what she believed in? Could have been true. SOMBRA did have her for decades, drilling their beliefs into her head. But maybe having Lars, the triplets, and friends brought out the old innocent Angela that was lost when she was 8. But SOMBRA could have been there. Watching and listening. She couldn’t look weak. She had to survive. And more importantly, so did her family.
She wanted a world that the triplets would thrive in. Though I don’t think she would have wanted them to gain yellow eyes and become assassins. So she didn’t slip up when working in Oceania. She wanted it gone. Then she helped with finding more SOMBRA assassins and saving them from their brainwashing even after her imprisonment from telling the player to go to Lavinia’s room where the microchip from a dead SOMBRA assassin was.
She likely wanted her girls to be brave, smart, fast, and strong... in case they happened to lose their parents at a vulnerable age like she did... but not like that. No good parent would want their kid to be an experiment. And she was a good mother. And a good wife. Her laptop’s password was about loving Lars, and the video was of the best moment of her life - holding her newly born daughters.
I’m not saying what Angela did was good, murder’s never good, no matter how right you feel, but from what I understand she was a scared woman who wanted to protect those she loved from those who had controlled her for most of her life. She was loyal to SOMBRA, but I’m sure she was happy when they were defeated. No one would be brainwashed again.
As for the final case... I think she was butchered in the writing.. Trying to blow up a plane which had kids (Elliot and Sanjay) on it? Doesn’t sound like her. Unless she was desperate for one last attempt to make SOMBRA see her life - and the lives of Lars and the triplets - as something to protect if SOMBRA won. After all, this was SOMBRA’s last stand. Though she did literally say “Frankly, if I can't see my family, I don't care what happens to me.” She just wanted to see them. She did something horrible, but she just wanted to see them one last time. Like a certain PB detective who mourned his family. Or a certain Grimsborough Chief who lost his wife and had to protect his granddaughter.
And when she didn’t seem to care when Armand was dying... That just seems like a load of bull from CC. Maybe they weren’t close, but they had known each other for a while. Getting to know each other across the world. Maybe it was a defence mechanism to hide the pain of losing a friend. Maybe she was scared to show her vulnerable side and draw Lars closer. She still cried in the end. Maybe she wanted one last chance, had one last shred of hope, despite knowing all the bad stuff she did, but I think she accepted it after Lars left. She’s smart, after all. It couldn’t work between them anymore. And who wants a criminal as a mother?
After all, I think she was starting to accept the fact that they should be apart. For good. Even back when she was arrested the first time. She was a SOMBRA criminal. He was a Bureau Lab Chief. It just couldn’t work. It meant never seeing Lars and her kids again... but what if people who hated SOMBRA tried to get back at her... by using the people she loved? Never! They’re all she had left. So she shut him out. They’d never talk again. She probably loves and misses them all the time. But she wants her family to be happy, even if it means she can’t be with them.
She was not sadistic, not abusive, not obsessive. She was a flawed human. Everyone’s flawed. No one’s truly good or truly bad.
Remember Chief King? Part of an OLD Grimsborough sect of racist bastards. He set fire to the Aloki. Killed Adam Bentley under Serena’s orders. Unforgivable actions for understandable reasons. All to protect what’s dear to him. If he didn’t kill himself... if he stayed alive... would he be as hated as Angela? He was a flawed and grieving man. Or is it fine because ‘Oh no, his wife was killed by the Crimson Order and he wanted to protect Cathy!’. Well, Angela wanted to protect her family, too!
What about Frank Knight? He killed A KID. DANNY WAS 17. Yes, he killed Louis, but he was a kid. And Frank himself said he wasn’t redeemable. Tesla was trying to destroy all of Pacific Bay and upload everyone to his digital mindscape. Frank was helping. So was Karen. But they didn’t know the whole picture, they just wanted Daisy to survive... When they found out the truth, they tried to help, but it can’t redeem their actions. But, like King and Angela, Frank (and Karen!) did bad things because they wanted to protect their family. But then Frank died after Karen did. ‘Oh no! He lost everyone he loved and got killed! He’s truly a good person...’. No he isn’t. He was a flawed and grieving man.
And Angela was probably grieving her bio parents. And maybe she knew that she’d be caught but tried anyway, and grieved her good life with her husband and kids. All three of them fought for their loved ones and did horrible things. But only the men died and got honoured. Angela is alive and is hated. Hm. Double standards?
Besides, while King may have been brainwashed seeing as his family was in the CO for generations, and Frank was spiralling with grief, they knew they weren’t redeemable. They just wanted the player to understand why they did it. Angela likely feels the same. She knows she’ll never be forgiven, but she just couldn’t escape SOMBRA like King couldn’t escape the CO and Frank (and Karen) couldn’t escape Tesla. None of them are perfect. But none of them are evil, either. Just flawed people who made bad choices.
Bloody hell, I’ve been ranting, haven’t I? Sorry. But I’ve been thinking about Angela for too long. And while I can’t forgive her crimes, like I can’t forgive Chief King’s or Frank Knight’s... I understand why. And I miss her presence on the S3 team. And I think she misses them. Or why else would she have made the Russian doll versions of the Bureau? She didn’t need to. She wanted to. She cares about them. The team. Her family away from SOMBRA. Lars and the triplets most of all.
Enough ranting now, just got my Angela Douglas feelings out. Probably won’t reply on a reblog for 84 years.
