Angela Petrelli

Angela Petrelli
Portrayed by	Cristine Rose
First appearance	Genesis
In-story stats
Known ability	None
Gender
Date of marriage	1965
Home	New York, NY
Residence	Angela Petrelli's home
Significant other	Arthur Petrelli (deceased)
Children	Nathan Petrelli, Peter Petrelli
Grandchildren	Claire Bennet, Simon Petrelli, Monty Petrelli

Angela Petrelli is one of the Company's founders who have been aware of evolved humans for years. She is the mother of Nathan and Peter. Since her husband's death she has become increasingly blunt and free to speak her mind.

Character History

Season One

For an episode-by-episode summary, see Angela Petrelli: Season One History.

Angela is taken in by the NYPD for shoplifting socks. In doing this, she worries her son Nathan, while Peter, her younger son, sees it as a cry for attention. The next day, she sees Peter in the hospital and confesses to him that his father died of suicide, telling him she is worried he may be developing the same condition. She tells Peter that he always was her favorite son. Later, she expresses concern for Peter when Nathan claims his jump was a suicide attempt.

A few days later, Angela plans a family brunch with Heidi to help Nathan's campaign. The brunch is interrupted by Peter who suggests that he is not good enough to attend, but eventually saves Nathan in the interview with Oliver Dennison.

During the next two weeks she spends her time worried about a comatose Peter, fearing he may die of a heart attack. When Peter awakens and leaves in a rage, she is upset that Peter would keep her worried for these two weeks and just leave. Within the next few days, she persuades Nathan not to meet his long-lost daughter and bribe Meredith to end the situation.

When Claire comes to New York City to find Peter, she is instead greeted by Angela. She reveals she is Claire's grandmother. She explains to Claire about her biological parents and the fire, urging Claire to come with her to Paris, but then Mohinder arrives with Peter's dead body. When Peter is revived, she tells Peter she has long known about his abilities. Later on, she claims to also know about Linderman's plans. When Peter dreams of his mother talking to the late Charles, she states she thinks Nathan will be who people turn to after the explosion. Angela tries to get Claire out of the city, saying the bomb is inevitable; however, Claire disagrees and flees from Angela.

Season Two

For an episode-by-episode summary, see Angela Petrelli: Season Two History.

Angela is a regular visitor of Nathan at his hospital room where he is recovering from Peter's explosion. When she finds he has rapidly healed. When Nathan later blames her for Peter's presumed death, she finds a death threat targeting her. She meets with Kaito Nakamura to discuss the threats. After Kaito was murdered, Angela is interrogated by Matt Parkman, and she is somewhat able to repel his telepathy. She is attacked in the interrogation room when the lights mysteriously go out, and in her hospital room she confesses to murdering Kaito, and while Nathan and Matt attempt to prove she is lying they discover she is one of the Company's founders.

While is jail, Angela is interrogated again by Matt Parkman who gets her to reveal information about Victoria Pratt. After her "early release" from jail, she is confronted by Matt and Nathan about Adam Monroe. She explains why he is killing the Company's founders, and secretly comands Matt that if Peter causes any problems to kill him. Later we see Angela talking with a mysterious individual on the phone saying it had to be done, but that Pandora's Box has been opened.

Webisode:Going Postal, Part 3

13 weeks after Echo DeMille escapes the agents in his house, Angela arrives outside his cell's window and comments,"Echo, Echo, Echo. You always were the mouthy one. I guess some things never change. Welcome home." As Echo tries to say something through his gag, she holds up a finger to her mouth and shushes him.

Memorable Quotes

"What could you possibly need so bad that you had to steal it? Never mind. I don't wanna know."

"Socks."

- Nathan, Angela (Genesis)

"I never kid about family brunch."

- Angela (to Peter) (Nothing to Hide)

"I need you to tell me the truth."

"The truth? The truth is that our generation mortgaged our souls to protect yours. Show a little respect for that!"

- Matt, Angela (Cautionary Tales)

"I know... It was unavoidable... You do know that you've now opened Pandora's Box."

- Angela (to an unknown individual) (Powerless)

Notes

• Angela speaks French: «Au moins maintenant elle sera en sécurité. Mais pas grâce à vous!», which means : "At least now she's going to be safe, no thanks to you!" (Parasite)
• In Cautionary Tales, Angela showed great resistance to Matt's telepathic abilities. This could be the result of undergoing the same mental strain before.

Trivia

• In the commentary for How to Stop an Exploding Man, Tim Kring said he wanted to name Angela's character in honor of "Mrs. Iselin" from The Manchurian Candidate. However, Tim couldn't remember the character's name (Eleanor), so he named Mrs. Petrelli after the actress who portrayed "Mrs. Iselin"--Angela Lansbury.
• In the script for the unaired pilot, Angela was named "Alice Cambell", a 76-year-old woman.
• In an interview with TV Guide, Christine Rose said on her character, "Oh, I think she's just misunderstood and misguided! I have to play her with the intent that she's good and that she's a nurturer… yet a nurturer who's not averse to violence." On her anger towards Nathan in Four Months Later..., she said "Not only did Nathan destroy all her plans that had been building up for decades, she blames him for killing her beloved son Peter. It's all blown up in her face. They've got me doing monologue after monologue like Lear, just ranting and raving." On the older generation of heroes that Angela belongs to, Rose said "I still have no idea about the origins of this group. I like to think we all met up at Woodstock in the '60s and it was there that we found out about our powers. We sprang from that generation that wanted to save the world. And, well, just look at it now — it's all falling apart. Despite their best intentions, hell happened to Angela and her friends. She had especially wanted to save Peter from that hell, and her granddaughter Claire, too. But now she's powerless. Her friends and family are dying, she's alone and very vulnerable… and then it goes downhill from there." [1]

See Also

• For Angela Petrelli as she appeared in the virus-stricken future, see Angela Petrelli (future)
• For other uses of Angela, see Angela (disambig).
• For other members of the Petrelli family, see Petrelli (disambig).

Fan Theories

Please refer to Theory:Angela Petrelli for fan-created theories and other speculation.