It’s hard to believe but Angela Martin was single-handedly the most important female character in The Office next to Pam. Having a secretive on-again/off-again relationship with Dwight, their storyline continued through all nine seasons. Sure, Michael’s romances and even Karen had some time in the spotlight but Angela has always been in the dimly lit area of Dunder Mifflin’S Scranton office.
Known for her modest and religious views, Angela seems to have a problem with everyone in the office. She even had major issues with Dwight and she was sleeping with him for years! Her tightly-bound personality made it hard to get to know her in the office and her strong perspective on everything modern made her noticeably angry.
However, behind those cat calendars and claustrophobic sweaters was a somewhat decent human being. She didn’t always get along with everyone but, as we can see below, she did show a few ounces of humility with her co-workers and lovers.
APOLOGIZING TO ANDY FOR BEING A BAD FIANCE
After breaking up with Dwight over the death of her cat, Sprinkles, Angela moves on to an unexpecting co-worker: Andy. New to the area, Andy falls for Angela because she’s put-together and blonde. However, their love was clearly one-sided because Angela continued to sleep with Dwight throughout their relationship.
After turning down all of Andy’s wedding ideas (in fear of actually getting married to him), Andy tells her he doesn’t care where or when they get married — he just wants to be with her. It was here that we actually saw Angela feel empathetic towards her fiance. She even kissed him in public!
SUPPORTING THE SENATOR’S CAREER
Viewers were stunned when Angela began dating the senator. She was clearly taken back by his charm and position of power. She also saw herself in a new light as the wife of a politician. Eventually, we do find out that Angela was the beard to her husband–as he was having an affair with Oscar—but she stood by him for months, regardless of his sexual orientation. That takes a lot of power to pull that off.
WHEN SHE AND PAM WERE PREGNANT AT THE SAME TIME
In the second episode of the eighth season, we find out Pam is pregnant with her second child and Angela is pregnant with the senator’s baby; her first child. Usually drone, Angela is more upbeat than usual when she begins her relationship with the senator and her pregnancy amplified that.
Knowing there were two pregnancies in the office, Angela—in an attempt to befriend Pam–asked if Pam would be interested in taking a morning and afternoon walk with her every day while at work. Pam hesitantly agrees as the two embark on this pregnancy journey together.
SAVING BANDIT DURING THE FIRE
After the office doesn’t take Dwight’s safety instruction meeting seriously, Dwight plants a fake fire to show how serious fires can be. The entire office ran around in a frenzy, trying to find a safe exit. For whatever reason, Angela had her cat, Bandit, with her that day at work and decided to put his life before her own. “Save Bandit!” she cried to Oscar (who was actually trying to find a way out in the ceiling). We all know Angela is a crazy cat lady but it was touching to see her be so selfless.
WHEN SHE SHARED THE EXTENSION CORD AT THE OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY
As the former head of the Party Planning Committee, Angela typically planned boring parties. She considered them tasteful but let’s be Frank. In one special Christmas episode, we see Angela go head-to-head with Pam and Karen.
Pam and Karen decided to throw their own Christmas party and to Angela’s dismay, she hid the power cord the girls would need to make their party fun. After having a change of heart, Angela did present Pam and Karen with the cord they needed due to the holiday spirit.
SHE TOOK THE TIME TO BATH DWIGHT’S AUNT
Angela was having troubles with the senator when she started looking at Dwight with longing eyes again. But considering she and Dwight never really lost their friendship, it wasn’t weird for Dwight to ask Angela for a favor here and there. In one particularly sweet moment, Dwight needed Angela to “hose” down his aunt. She was obese and sick and wasn’t capable of bathing any longer. Instead of hosing her down as Dwight request, she took the time to sponge-bathe her and even braided her hair. This shined a new light on Angela, along with her relationship with Dwight.
HER FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF OSCAR’S HOMOSEXUALITY
It’s no secret that Angela didn’t approve of Oscar’s “alternative” lifestyle. However, her point of view on the matter begins to change as seasons went on.
After Michael embarrassed Oscar by outting him to the office, he went on a three week paid vacation and returned to Angela being nice to him. She even invited him to join the Party Planning Committee! As always, Michael didn’t stop unknowingly embarrassing Oscar and Angela seemed very sensitive to Michael’s “jokes.”
SHE MADE BROWNIES FOR THE OFFICE AFTER MATERNITY LEAVE
After giving birth to her son, Phillip, Angela returned back to work around the same time Pam did. Angela looked better than ever — almost like she never even had the baby. High off the feeling of motherhood, Angela was in great spirits coming back to work and even made her famous brownies for the office!
APOLOGIZING TO DWIGHT FOR BEING WITH ANDY IN THE FIRST PLACE
Before Angela married the senator (and later, Dwight), she was engaged to Andy. Deciding to take a look at Dwight’s beet farm as a possible wedding venue, Angela realized she wanted to marry Dwight in that barn instead of Andy. She ended up apologizing to Dwight and realized her heart belonged him.
It was a touching moment to see her so raw and vulnerable. Dwight, of course, screwed that up after he told her they were actually now legally married because he had the priest perform a real ceremony in German, meaning they were now man and wife.
THE PARTY PLANNING COMMITTEE
We saw Angela really come alive when it came to being in charge of the Party Planning Committee. She ended up passing her position down to Phyllis, but she still enjoyed being in charge of planning people’s best days in the office. For being the most monotoned in the office, it’s surprising she cared so much about making everyone’s birthday and holiday so special. Yet, she did it every month and only complained about it when Pam or Phyllis gave poor ideas.
