| “ | I have an idea that will change the world. I know it sounds really stupid, but I know how to do it. I think it could actually work. | ” |
Angela Moss is a close friend of Elliot Alderson. She is portrayed by Portia Doubleday.
Background
Angela was born on February 27, 1988, in New Jersey to Donald and Emily Moss. She is an only child. Her mother died as a result of the Washington Township leak of 1993. In the aftermath, she became friends with Darlene and Elliot Alderson, with whom she shared a love for the book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Angela fondly remembers wanting to be like Claudia Kincaid, the story's adventurous heroine. She also remembers the Aldersons subjecting her to their favorite movie, The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie, every Halloween.
Angela attended college, for which she is thousands of dollars in debt. She was employed by Allsafe Cybersecurity as an account executive in charge of E Corp's security contract. In late 2014, she recommended Elliot to her boss Gideon Goddard.
She has stated that she occasionally smokes weed with Elliot. At the start of 2015, she lives with her boyfriend Ollie Parker in New York City. She personally has a MacBook and uses OS X. She is an avid jogger.
2015
Season 1
Angela has a birthday party at a bar in February. She is disappointed when Elliot doesn't show up. When fsociety attack E Corp's servers, she calls Elliot in the middle of the night to help Lloyd Chung, the engineer on call. The day after, Angela offers to smoke weed and watch Elliot's favorite movie, Back to the Future, but is surprised by the sight of a naked woman, Shayla, in his bed. She is supportive of the relationship and leaves.
When E Corp meets with Allsafe in the aftermath, Terry Colby blames her and has her removed from the account. She doesn't talk to Elliot for 3 weeks, telling him that she didn't need to be defended during the meeting. They hug, just as news is breaking of Colby's arrest. (“eps1.0_hellofriend.mov”)
The next day, Angela and Ollie are walking outside of E Corp when they encounter Elliot. She is embarrassed when Ollie invites him on a double date, intimating that she told him about Shayla. Elliot abruptly leaves, claiming he has to take care of his dog at home, which is news to Angela. The couple then meet a man on the street selling mixtapes. Ollie takes one, claiming that he has been outside their building for two weeks. Later the CD freezes his laptop, while Angela is in the bathroom, worried about Elliot's recent behavior. Angela lets Ollie go out for a drink with a friend, while he is actually leaving to cheat on her. Meanwhile, the webcam of the laptop is hacked by the mixtape seller, giving him a view of Angela preparing for a shower. (“eps1.1_ones-and-zer0es.mpeg”)
Later, Ollie and Angela attend a dinner at Gideon's apartment along with Lloyd, Elliot, and Shayla. Angela and Elliot share childhood memories, when news on TV breaks incriminating Colby in the Washington Township leak. Elliot leaves and Angela explains to the group that their parents died from the leak and that that is how they know each other. Angela chases after him, denying Ollie from following. Back at their apartment, Ollie is upset that she won't talk to him. He reveals that he is being blackmailed by the people who infected his computer, threatening to reveal his infidelity unless he infects Allsafe. Angela looks through the evidence of his cheating and realizes that the bank accounts of her and her father are now comprimised. (“eps1.2_d3bug.mkv”)
Worrying about the dilemma, Angela goes to Elliot's apartment for help. Instead, she finds Shayla and accompanies her while walking Flipper. Angela is hesitant to take ecstasy, but does it to work through her problem. The two go to a bar later that night. In a back room, Shayla convinces her to worry about herself first before making out with her. The next morning, she sabotages Allsafe using Ollie's work ID and computer. (“eps1.3_da3m0ns.mp4”) After breaking up with Ollie, she moves back to her father's house in New Jersey. She discovers that he is deeply in debt from her mother's old medical bills. She goes for a jog at night, finding herself at a crossroads in her life. (“eps1.4_3xpl0its.wmv”)
In April, Angela meets with Antara Nayar in an attempt to reopen her toxic waste lawsuit against E Corp – she tell her it is impossible to win without testimony from someone on the inside. She asks Elliot for advice and he tells her to trust herself. At Colby's house, he turns her away. (“eps1.5_br4ve-trave1er.asf”) With her lawyer, she negotiates with Colby's lawyer for a meeting. They eventually agree to a private conversation without any lawyer. She speaks with Terry Colby, who is now under house arrest, and attempts to make a deal: she will lie and say she broke chain of custody with the .dat file that incriminated him, if in exchange, Colby will testify that E Corp covered up the toxic waste leak in 1993. When he rudely dismisses her, she warns him of the life without respect, claiming firsthand experience. Gideon warns Angela that her plan will put Allsafe out of business. Colby agrees to her proposition and tells her of the circumstances of the day he and two other executives decided the Washington Township leak was to be covered up. (“eps1.6_v1ew-s0urce.flv”)
In early May, Angela attends a 7 am ballet class with Darlene in NYC after taking 2 hours of NJ transit. They have a friendly conversation. Later that day, she tells Elliot about infecting Allsafe with the CD after he learns about it when he hacks Ollie. She confronts him on his aloofness, especially when she needed him when she was being blackmailed. They have a bit of an argument when Elliot refuses to talk, making her miss the days when they were close. (“eps1.7_wh1ter0se.m4v”)
The next day, Darlene calls and explains that Elliot has run away, although the pair can't find him at a museum, Angela and Elliot's runaway hideout when Angela found him last time. Angela points out that he has been acting weird since she returned to the city and asks why've they been spending so much time together. When she doesn't get a clear answer, Angela leaves. When she returns home, her father says he saw Darlene around town. She finds her at the old Alderson house and they eventually find Elliot at his father's grave. She gives him a hug at the train station, as her friends return to NYC. When she goes home, Angela encounters Colby, who offers her a job and recommendation at E Corp. (“eps1.8_m1rr0r1ng.qt”)
Three days after the 5/9 hack, Angela is working at E Corp as an assistant. She is in the room when James Plouffe, the EVP of Technology, kills himself during a televised interview. His blood gets on her shoes as at the time she was approaching to calm him down. Price offers his condolences, giving her the rest of the day off and money to buy new shoes. She later yells at a shoe salesman after he insults her for working at E Corp. At an E Corp function for Mr. Plouffe, Price expresses his interest in the young, ambitious Angela as he degrades Plouffe before giving a speech. (“eps1.9_zer0-day.avi”)
Season 2
A month after the 5/9 hack, Angela is working in the PR department for E Corp. She is not liked by one co-worker and is effective in negotiating with TV networks looking to ask E Corp questions. Angela appears content, now living in an expensive NY apartment, and ignores the lawsuit she was working on. She claims to feel valued at E Corp and that her lawyer's suspicions are unfounded. Price invites her to dinner with two executives, Jim Chutney and Saul Weinberg, only to reveal afterwards that they were the men in the room with Colby who covered up the 1993 leak. He gives her incriminating evidence on them and leaves.
Angela passes the information on to her lawyer, which leads to the two executives being arrested. Angela realizes Price is getting leverage on her and the settlement negotiations must be the reason. She confronts Price, having discovered the pattern that through all the settlement drafts, the only one that hasn't changed is a refusal of third party inspections on the Washington Township plant. He rebuffs her theory, but she believes she is correct.
Darlene breaks into her apartment and asks for her help in hacking the FBI who have set up base at the E Corp building. Angela meets with her ex-boyfriend Ollie at a bar. When he tries to talk about Gideon's murder and the CD at Allsafe, she discovers he is is recording her on his phone for the FBI. She leaves and decides to help Darlene.
At the new fsociety base, Angela begins studying how to hack under Mobley. Cisco brings equipment needed for the hack and Angela stares at him, likely recognizing him as the man who gave Ollie the infected CD. With Darlene and Mobley in her ear, Angela is able to do her part of the mission. However, there were some hiccups in an FBI agent, who she flirted her way past, and Dominique DiPierro, the FBI agent leading the investigation into fsociety. Dom immediately finds her suspicious, even more so when she learns the security footage has been deleted.
Dom knows Angela's history and is suspicious, but can't pin anything on her, even when the FBI is hacked. Joanna tells her boyfriend that she has filed for divorce. Angela confronts Darlene about Elliot and Darlene being fsociety, something she knew from the masks originating in a movie she was forced to watch by them long ago. She settles the inspections provisions with the families of the lawsuit, to the disgust of her father, and uses that as leverage with Price to be reassigned to the Risk Management division. However, she goes too far at her first director's meeting by trying to get her hands on the Washington Township files.
On July 4, Angela goes to a bar on a date with a man later revealed to be working with Dom. She ignores her date, sings karaoke, is confronted by her father's friend for working at E Corp only to shame him for being a plumber while she is 27 years old and making more money, and at the end of the night she shows interest in an older man at the bar.
In August, Angela hacks someone at E Corp to get incriminating evidence on the leak. She brings it to a nuclear testing official and is made to wait hours. When a supervisor attempts to lead her down a dim hallway, she leaves. At home, Dom knocks on the door and lets herself in. She tells Angela the gig is up and it's better to face the consequences, before leaving.
Angela frantically texts Elliot, who has her in his phone as ClaudiaKincaid, to meet her. Meeting on the subway she is defeated, having called her lawyer to admit her part in the FBI hack. She makes Elliot realize there are more gaps in his memory and warns him not to trust Mr. Robot. Elliot kisses her goodbye. A black man and a white woman approach Angela. They put her in the back of a van and drive through a tunnel, ignoring her pleas.
They take her to a suburban home, where the faces of family photos are covered. Angela is taken to a dimly lit room that is empty except for a fish tank with one fish and an office type setting. Two chairs sit on either side of a desk in the center of the room. A Hang in There cat poster is on the wall. On the desk is a copy of Lolita, a rotary dial telephone, and an old computer system.
A young girl who looks and is dressed like Angela enters the room and uses the computer to ask questions. Angela is hesitant, but participates when the girl shows wounds the people give her. The questions include "Have you ever cried during sex?" "Have you ever fantasized about killing your father?" and "Are you a giraffe or a seagull?" At one point, the phone rings and the girl speaks with someone. The phone later rings and the girl gives it to Angela. A computer voice tells her she's in a dark room with a torch and a match. She says she lights the torch. The voice says there is a door. She says she opens it. The knob won't turn. After some frustration, Angela recalls a prior question and looks at the book and opens the door with a key. The girl finishes the questions and leaves the room.
4 hours later, the fish tank which was leaking has lost its water, killing the fish. Whiterose enters and starts smoking a cigarette. She tells Angela she was testing Angela's value of time. The girl, whose wounds were fake, was used to test her empathy and gullibility. Whiterose explains that she wants to know why Price is so interested in Angela and why she keeps popping up in her plans when she should have died 90 days ago. She links herself to Washington Township, in that the leak made Elliot and Angela who they are. Whiterose says their parents didn't die in vain, but in the pursuit of advancing the human race.
Later that night, Angela is driven to Antara Nayar's house. She tells her lawyer to stop calling her, while Nayar is suspicious about her behavior and the car. Angela leaves.
The next night, Angela receives a call from Tyrell, as she is now working for the Dark Army. She learns Elliot has been shot and leaves so that she will be the first one he sees. They both agree that they love Elliot, as Tyrell is upset. At the same moment, the city lights blackout.