Rachel Barbra Berry is a major character on Glee. She was a sophomore at the New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts(NYADA), until she decided to drop out in Bash. She is an alumna of William McKinley High School as of Goodbye. She was the first ever captain of the school's Glee Club, the New Directions, having later recruited Finn Hudson as a co-captain in Mattress. She was one of the three major self-proclaimed divas of the club: the others being two of her closest friends, Kurt Hummel and Mercedes Jones.
Rachel is a very driven and ambitious young woman. She was raised by her two gay fathers, LeRoy and Hiram Berry, and was able to meet her biological mother Shelby Corcoran, the former coach of Vocal Adrenaline in Theatricality, due to the efforts of her now ex-boyfriend, Jesse St. James. Rachel is very competitive and often flaunts her "diva" behavior by demanding the spotlight and being the center of attention, due to her dream of performing on Broadway. However, on numerous occasions, during her tenure as a New Directions member, Rachel has shown that she was slowly becoming more considerate and supportive towards the other members of the glee club.
In the episode Yes/No, Finn, whom she has had conflicting feelings for ever since the episode Pilot, proposes to Rachel and in Michael, Rachel accepts his proposal. In On My Way, they planned to get married, but in the beginning of Big Brother it is revealed that they postponed their wedding due to Quinn Fabray's texting and driving car accident. In Goodbye, Finn told her that he is setting her free so that she could go to New Yorkand follow her dreams which she couldn't do if she was married to him. She graduated from McKinley High School in the Season Three graduation episode, Goodbye.
In The New Rachel, Rachel is now a student at NYADA and is struggling to fit in with the new adjustments. Her dance teacher,Cassandra July, isn't making her stay in New York City very welcoming either. In The Break-Up, Finn returns, but with the ongoing drama, Rachel breaks off their relationship "for now" and their relationship was put on hold. In Glease, it seems their relationship has fully dropped after Finn says they shouldn't have contact and he doesn't want to know about Rachel's arrival to Lima, Ohio if she does return again someday. Although at Will's almost wedding they talk multiple times, sing a duet, and sleep together. In the episode, Sweet Dreams, her Broadway journey begins after auditioning for Funny Girl and asked to return for callbacks. During Wonder-ful, she and Cassandra July reconcile and they become friends, after promising she and other NYADA students will help her. In All or Nothing, she re-auditioned forFunny Girl, but it is unknown if she has been selected at the end of the fourth season.
In Season Five, during Tina in the Sky with Diamonds, we found out that she was selected to play 'Fanny Brice' in Funny Girl. Despite the good news, Rachel receives the shock of Finn's death in The Quarterback, which is very tough for her to deal with, specially in the subsequent year. In A Katy or A Gaga, Rachel joins Kurt's band, Pamela Lansbury. Santana Lopezbecomes Rachel's understudy which reopens old wounds. Because of her feud with Santana, she is kicked out of the band by Kurt in Trio. In Bash, Rachel quits her schooling at NYADA to focus on Funny Girl. As of Opening Night, the revival of Funny Girl successfully opened on Broadway receiving good reviews from the New York Times. In The Untitled Rachel Berry Project, she decides to leave Broadway and go to Los Angeles to shoot the very first episode of a new series based on her life.
In Season Six, it is revealed that her TV show, titled That's So Rachel, has been cancelled due to very poor raitings after airing its pilot episode. Since she can't go back to Broadway, Rachel returns to Ohio to find out her parents are getting divorced and to relaunch the glee club along with Kurt, and together (with some help of the Alumni) they recruit new members. In What the World Needs Now, with Mercedes' piece of advice and with New Directions' and Alumni's help, Rachel goes to New York to audition for a play in a new Broadway show, which is revealed to have gotten later in the season. However, after personally requesting it, Rachel is reaccepted in NYADA, which leads her to drop the role and decide to go back to college to finish her education. In the series finale, Dreams Come True, it is revealed that in 2020, she is now a successful Broadway actress, married to her friend and old flame Jesse St. James, who is also her director, and a surrogate for Klaine. She finally wins a Tony Award - her lifelong dream - for her role in the fictitious Broadway musical Jane Austen Sings, showing that at the end, her long dreams in life has finally accomplished and all the things she went through and worked hard for is finally paid off in the best way possible.
She is portrayed by actress and singer Lea Michele.
Biography
Pilot
Rachel is introduced in Pilot, in which she got the school's previous Glee teacher, Sandy Ryerson, fired for inappropriately touching Hank Saunders, a male student. Right off the bat, Rachel's show-offish personality shines through as she details how she had won her first dance contest while still a baby. She introduces her family and talks about her life and how her parents raised her to be a shining star.
When Will Schuester holds auditions, Rachel performs the pieceOn My Own from Les Miserables and as soon as she finishes singing, she promptly asks when rehearsals begin. Once they start, she immediately begins to grow weary on the minds and tempers of the others, becoming easily angered for not getting her way and for not having better music selections, particularly in the first group number Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat.These angry moments often end up with Rachel storming out of the choir room.
However, she seems to lighten up when Finn Hudson joins. With his skilled singing abilities and good looks, Rachel finds herself immensely attracted to him. The big problem is that he is dating her nemesis, Quinn Fabray. When Finn tries to leave the group, she works hard to convince him to stay because she knows that he really does like glee club, but is afraid of being bullied by the rest of the school. At the end of the episode she is then seen with the other Glee club members with the new acception of Finn and joins them in singing Don't Stop Believin'.
Showmance
Rachel begins to take a more active approach at trying to win over Finn. She continues to try and do what she can to get his attention, including inducing vomiting so as to become thinner, and joining the Celibacy Club. Neither works out for her.
Later, when the Glee kids, ignoring Mr. Schuester's orders reject his song selection of Le Freak and instead perform the more sexually driven song, Push It, Rachel gets the group in trouble not only with the Principal and Will, but it also results in Quinn joining the group along with Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce.
Shortly after, while helping Finn practice his singing, Rachel puts together a very over-the-top, but nonetheless romantic picnic for them. This leads to them sharing their first kiss, which unfortunately gets Finn overexcited, and he prematurely ejaculates. Embarrassed and feeling guilty, Finn rushes off, leaving Rachel confused and hurt.
Rachel's overbearing nature continues to cause a rift between her and Mr. Schuester, when she and the rest of the group criticize his choreography. This leads to him losing confidence and joining his own musical group, the Acafellas. Meanwhile, Quinn convinces Rachel to hire award-winning choreographerc Dakota Stanley, although unfortunately his costs are $8,000 per song.
The glee kids get the money, but are soon horrified by how horrible Stanley is, who insults and rejects everyone in the group (sans the Cheerios) and attempts to kick them out of Glee for not looking like what he considers to be beautiful. This provokes the other kids to want to leave, but Rachel stops them and instead fires Stanley, and as a parting shot adds that she's taller than he is.
When Will gives Tina Cohen-Chang the solo in Tonight from West Side Story, Rachel loses her temper. He tells her the reason he gave the solo to Tina is that he wants to strengthen the confidence of the rest of Glee in anticipation of Regionals. Rachel's upset that he is hurting her to make others feel good. Sue Sylvester finds out about this, and manipulating Principal Figgins, gets Sandy Ryerson rehired as the head of the arts department, which allows him to run the school musical, Cabaret. Sue has Sandy give Rachel the lead. With Will still refusing to give her the lead, Rachel quits Glee to join the musical.
Unfortunately, the musical proves to be less than enjoyable for Rachel. Sandy spends all his time insulting Rachel's talent, claiming that he could do better. Meanwhile, Will has gotten a ring-in to replace Rachel, April Rhodes, who was an old high school classmate and crush of Will's youth. Although talented, April is very irresponsible, teaching the Glee kids to drink and act up.
April, a typical cougar, voices a sexual interest in the much younger Finn to Rachel, which infuriates her. Finn meanwhile attempts to get Rachel back in Glee, partly because of her talent and also because he misses her. This leads to their second kiss, which hurts Rachel when she realizes that Finn was manipulating her because he needs her help to win a scholarship in music, so that he has a future for himself and Quinn, who is pregnant with (supposedly) their baby. In the end, however, Rachel is unable to stand Sandy's directing and truly misses the group, so she returns to Glee Club.
Rachel and Finn are at odds when Rachel discovers that during the mash-up competition between the boys and girls, the boys took performance enhancing pseudoephedrine (given to them by Terri Del Monico) to energize them. In a move that disturbs Rachel herself, the girls take the same drug, giving a wildly energetic performance of Halo/Walking on Sunshine.
Afterwards, both Finn and Rachel agree they were wrong to take the drugs, and come clean to Will. This however causes a massive backlash, getting Terri fired as the school nurse, and gaining Glee a co-director: Sue Sylvester, who has no talent in showbiz and openly wants to destroy Glee Club.
Sue's control as co-director causes immediate trouble, as Sue splits the kids up, taking all the minority students, leaving only Rachel along with Finn and Quinn, because she claims Will thinks of them as lesser students.
Meanwhile, Rachel, upon discovering Quinn's pregnancy, does what she can to keep the truth of the pregnancy hidden from school reporter Jacob Ben Israel, who has a massive crush on her. She offers her white granny panties in exchange for his silence. Although Finn is touched, Quinn demands that Rachel stay away from Finn.
Undeterred, Rachel warns Quinn that Sue will not side with her when the news of her pregnancy finally come out, and that she and the rest of the Glee Club will be there for her. Rachel is proven right when Sue reveals that she is aware of the pregnancy and throws Quinn out of the Cheerios. Just as Rachel promised, the New Directions sings Keep Holding On, promising to be there for Quinn no matter what.
Rachel begins a short-lived relationship with former foe Noah Puckerman who, after being convinced by his mom to find a nice Jewish girl, begins to pursue her romantically. Rachel is touched by his sudden kind nature and a night of making out. Puck begins to feel that dating Rachel is killing his reputation in school, but that he now understands how bad it can be for people like her. Unfortunately, Puck, unable to live his life like that, decides to return to the football team rather than be a social outsider.
However, when Ken Tanaka makes the football players choose between the team and Glee, Puck returns to the club. Rachel is again touched, but quickly realizes that Puck is in love with Quinn and that she is still in love with Finn. They end their relationship, and when Rachel attempts an offer at friendship, Puck rejects her offer.
In Wheels, Rachel's rivalry with Kurt Hummel begins to show itself, when Will gives her the solo in Defying Gravity. Kurt, who loves the song, challenges the decision, and Will agrees to let them compete in a Diva-Off, promising that the winner would sing the solo at Sectionals. Rachel protests, because she knows that the other kids will select Kurt because they like him more. Kurt however asks the kids to be fair in their selection, "despite him being more popular and a better dresser." In the end, Kurt intentionally throws the competition, due to some personal issues involving his father.
Upon singing a duet of Endless Love with Will in front of the glee club, Rachel's romantic interests shift from Finn to Will. Rachel begins to behave obsessively and inappropriately around Will, leading to Terri taking advantage of the situation by manipulating her into cooking dinner for her and Will and performing general cleaning duties in Will's house. Will makes many attempts to get her to stop, but it is not until she is approached by Suzy Pepper, another girl who once had a crush on Will, that Rachel realizes how inappropriately she had been behaving.
Kurt still continues his rivalry with Rachel when he manipulates her with false advice on how to win over Finn. Openly insulting Rachel, he convinces her to take on a sultrier look (comparing her to the character Sandy in Grease). While the look does get Finn's attention, he admits that he preferred Rachel as she normally is. Rachel then confronts Kurt, who admits that they are both in love with Finn, and that as long as Quinn is in the picture, neither of them will ever have him. Rachel informs Kurt that her chances of being with Finn are better, because "I'm a girl" and Finn isn't gay. In the end, although not quite friends, both have bonded over their shared heartbreak.
When the Glee Club gets its page taken away from the yearbook, Rachel is the only one upset, wanting to have her glory and believing that other Glee kids feel the same way, when in reality, it is quite the opposite. Will gets them one quarter of a page, in which only the two captains of the club can be shown.
The group unanimously elects Rachel alone, so Will asks Rachel to convince someone else to be co-captain. When everyone else says no, she convinces Finn to take the picture with her. However, after being bullied by the football team, Finn doesn't show up which breaks Rachel's heart. However, she manages to get the yearbook photographer to hire the Glee Club for a mattress commercial in which they sing Jump. Unfortunately, the commercial takes away the kids' amateur status, making them unable to compete in Sectionals. It’s only when Will steps down as director that they are allowed to perform again.
Emma Pillsbury is selected by Will to take over as director and lead the kids to the competition. With Will gone, they don't have their set list, so Rachel offers one of her ballads. However, Mercedes Jones, who is furious at Rachel always getting the spotlight, demands her own chance, which Emma supports. Mercedes sings a powerful ballad, which results in a standing ovation from the entire Glee, Rachel included. She tells Mercedes that her performance was wonderful and concedes to let her sing the ballad, with the two sharing a hug.
Meanwhile, Rachel begins to grow suspicious about Quinn's pregnancy, slowly realizing that Puck might be the father, not Finn. When she shares this information with the Glee Club, they disregard it awkwardly, because they all know that it’s true, but do not want to get involved in Finn, Quinn, and Puck's personal drama. Rachel, however, brings this theory up to Finn, who discovers the truth. Furious, he breaks up with Quinn, breaks off his friendship with Puck and quits Glee. Rachel, who is guilty about her own selfish actions, talks to Quinn, expecting to get beaten up. Quinn admits that she's not angry at Rachel because Rachel did what she couldn't: tell the truth.
At the competition, the Glee Club is horrified to discover that their rival schools stole their set-list and are performing all of their songs. They agree to do a new set-list, with only an hour in to which prepare. Rachel, taking control, asks Mercedes to do a different ballad, but she admits that she has nothing else prepared and asks that Rachel step forward. With Finn's timely return, the group goes out to perform. Rachel sings Don't Rain on My Parade, and with the rest of the group she performs You Can't Always Get What You Want and Somebody to Love (this last song is not seen performed on screen, but implied in the green room). In the end, the group wins Sectionals and Will comes back as their director, preparing for the next competition.
Rachel and Finn are now "kind of" dating, until Finn decides to connect with his inner rock star; he breaks up with her, leaving her shocked and angry. This leads her to sing Gives You Hell, directed at Finn. Mr. Schuester tells her this is not a "Hello" song for the assignment, so she goes to the music store in search of a new song.
There she meets Jesse St. James, the male lead of Vocal Adrenaline, and the pair have immediate chemistry when they perform Hello by Lionel Richie. Rachel begins dating Jesse, which upsets New Directions, who want her out of the club if she doesn't break up with him because they think he is dating her to spy on their club for Regionals. She goes to Carmel High School, and asks Jesse if he is doing this for competition, and he denies it. Rachel asks Jesse to keep their relationship a secret, and he does so, but only to be looked on by Vocal Adrenaline's coach, Shelby Corcoran. When Finn tries to get back together with Rachel, she turns him down, and lies to him about her relationship with Jesse. When the Glee club performs Hello, Goodbye, she runs out of the performance, leaving Finn speechless.
Rachel and Jesse's relationship grows. Rachel is pressured to "do it" with Jesse, but she tells him she's not ready yet. Meanwhile, the glee girls realize they are not being treated fairly so led by Rachel, they sing Express Yourself to show their independence as strong females.
Although Finn thinks that Rachel is not dating Jesse anymore, Santana tells him that she still is. He asks Rachel and she admits it, but says that they can still be friends. They then sing Borderline/Open Your Heart. She tells Jesse that she is ready to have sex with him which leads to the song Like a Virgin. Right before they have sex, Rachel says that she's not ready and that it would feel like she's betraying her team and "sleeping with the enemy." When Finn asks her about it the next day, she lies and says that she did have sex to make him jealous. Finn also fibs and says that on his date with Santana he didn't have sex, although he really did.
This is the first episode of the series where Rachel doesn't really have much of a storyline. When Mercedes starves herself and gets hungry, she sees Rachel and Jesse St. James walk past together as a couple, Rachel as a cupcake. Rachel is also seen supporting Mercedes when she sings Beautiful and also with New Directions when they sing back up Home with April leading. (Home)
After realizing she obtained the lowest score in the "Glist," -5, Rachel asks Artie and Puck to assist her in their Glee assignment, (in order to achieve a "bad reputation") creating a video to Run Joey Run. Unbeknownst to each of them until the video is completed, she also has Finn and Jesse triple-cast in the role of her boyfriend, Joey. They are offended to see they were all playing the same role and were edited in at different points during the video.
Puck and Finn become angry, and Jesse breaks up with Rachel as a result. The episode closes with Rachel singing Total Eclipse of the Heart as the club members leave the classroom.
With help from A/V club president Lauren Zizes, Rachel realizes that some glee club members are faking their singing. She tells Will, complaining that she is doing most of the work, exhausting herself and getting ill in the process. She reveals the non-participants as Finn, Quinn, Puck, Brittany and Santana. Will gathers the students and gives them a new task for the week - each Glee club member will have to do solos, and each must choose a song that best represents their feelings. Rachel then confronts the "lazy" glee members and insults them, leading her to sing The Climb, whose lyrics she claims to be about them. But during the song she starts losing her voice, so she goes to the doctor's.
Later, an examination is revealed that she suffers from tonsillitis and may need to have her tonsils removed. She is afraid to have the surgery fearing it will affect her voice and believing that her singing prowess is her only asset. Finn, who accompanies Rachel to her doctor's appointment, tries to convince her that he loves everything about her and that there's more to her than her voice. He tells her that if she lost her ability to sing then Jesse would no longer find her attractive. Rachel tells Finn that she still cares about Jesse and that he needs to move on.
To put her fear into perspective, Finn introduces her to his friend Sean, who was paralyzed from the upper chest down during a football game. At first, Rachel is nervous and overwhelmed by the meeting - but Finn forces her to stay as Sean tells her about his grueling experiences with his disability and how he realized that a person is not just one single thing. She then begins to understand why Finn brought her and thanks Sean as she leaves.
Rachel eventually recovers her voice after taking the antibiotics her doctor prescribed. She goes back to Sean's house to thank him again, and offers to give him singing lessons. They start singing One and the image and music switch between her duet with Sean and the rest of the Glee club's own rendition of the song in a stage rehearsal. The episode ends with a tearful Rachel holding Sean's hand while they sing the last lines.
Rachel gets back together with Jesse and confides in him of her lifelong dream to discover the identity of her biological mother. While they are searching through boxes of records from her basement, Jesse takes a tape from his jacket and pretends that it came from a box. The tape is labeled "From mother to daughter." Rachel refuses to listen to it, stating that she is not ready.
Jesse later meets with Shelby in her car, where she reveals that she is Rachel's mother, but a contractual agreement prevents her from meeting with Rachel, instead Rachel having to find her herself. She implores Jesse to convince Rachel to listen to the tape, stating that not being able to meet Rachel is her one regret. Shelby sings I Dreamed a Dream on the tape, leading to a duet with Rachel singing in a fantasy sequence.
Rachel finds out Shelby is her mother when she recognizes her voice after Shelby sings Funny Girl at Carmel High's auditorium while spying a Vocal Adrenaline rehearsal. Shelby later meets with Rachel and says they should "be grateful for one another from afar," saying she is Rachel's mother, but not her mom also stating that she regrets not meeting her after she was born.
Later, however, Rachel asks Shelby to help make her a Lady GaGa costume and shows her the one that she put together and says it's from the childhood she never had. By the end of the episode, she asks Shelby to sing with her, and they sing Poker Face together, accompanied by Brad on the piano.
Rachel and Jesse break up in the beginning of the episode when he announces he is returning to Vocal Adrenaline because he feels that New Directions didn’t respect him or his ideas, making Rachel realize he was playing with her the whole time. She becomes extremely depressed and goes into an even deeper “funk” than the rest of the club.
Near the end of the episode, Jesse calls her asking to meet in the parking lot. As she runs towards him, the rest of the Vocal Adrenaline members emerge from behind their Range Rovers and throw eggs at her. Jesse tells her he loved her and breaks the last egg on her forehead. The rest of New Directions are furious at them when they find out and respond by singing Give up the Funk in front of Vocal Adrenaline to make them afraid.
Rachel, along with most of the club, lose all hope of even placing in Regionals after learning that Sue Sylvester is part of the panel of judges. Finn later confronts her and encourages her to be more motivating as co-captain of the team, but she interrupts him with a kiss.
Right before their opening song, Finn confesses his love for Rachel and this adds to the emotional depth of their duet,Faithfully. After performing a Journey medley, Rachel and New Directions are convinced that they will place or even win Regionals. Sadly, however, they end up coming in third despite the fact that Sue secretly voted them for first place. Because of this, it is decided that New Directions will be disbanded as it was part of Mr. Schuester and Principal Figgins's deal to place at Regionals in order to keep the program.
Rachel, along with the club, perform the number, To Sir, With Love, to show their appreciation for Mr. Schuester's devotion and to show that no matter what the judges said, they still won because they had him. Sue Sylvester sees their performance and later convinces Figgins to give the program another year. When Will gives them the good news, Rachel is ecstatic and wants to start rehearsing for next year's Sectionals. Will then performs Over the Rainbow and she is seen being affectionate with Finn, hinting that they are back together.
Personality
Overbearing, hyperactive, self-involved, egotistical and shrewd, Rachel can often come off as one of the more annoying girls in the Glee Club, something all the other members have said at one point or another. First competition while still in diapers, Rachel's one true desire is to become a famous singing star and she has spent almost every moment of her life obsessively going for that goal. She is the best singer in Glee club and has faced Kurt Hummel, Sunshine Corazon, and Mercedes Jones in diva-offs. Rachel is so energized by her ambition that she often speaks at a rapid pace, often without any tact to what she says. Rachel can also be manipulative in her actions, such as getting the previous glee teacher fired when she didn't get a solo and using the fact that she has two gay dads and therefore a connection to the civil rights union to force a business to get Finn hired for a waiting job. Ironically, she has difficulty seeing when other people are manipulating her, such as when Kurt gave her bad advice to gain Finn's attention. She is easily angered for not getting her way, and at such occasions, she will leave the room with a dramatic exit (Though, as Artie once pointed out, they get less dramatic every time she does it). Yet despite her less than appealing tendencies, Rachel is not a bad person. Deep down, like so many other teens, she only wishes to be loved and to have friends. When others are hurting or feeling rejected, Rachel often is willing to come to their side and offer them help, even if the manner in which she does it is less than smooth, such as offering Quinn her support and friendship when she found out she was pregnant and was kicked off the cheerleading team, despite all the years of emotional torment. Rachel is a vegan, a fact revealed to fans in Funk before Vocal Adrenaline eggs her. (Although a minor error, she was seen eating pizza with pepperoni in the episode The Rhodes Not Taken. It was mentioned by Finn as he said: I think they import the pepperoni from, Michigan or something.) But she could have become a vegetarian after The Rhodes Not Taken. This was also confirmed in Duets when Finn tells Rachel that the vegan meatballs at Breadstix are "okay." She is also quite intelligent and is an overachiever.
Rachel's romantic feelings towards certain people, like her core personality, can be somewhat scary. Upon meeting and singing with Finn for the first time, she became obviously enamored, causing Finn to become somewhat fearful for his safety as she sang to him. However, despite her overbearing nature, Finn found himself attracted to her "Swimfan" personality. Rachel also became attracted to Will at one point, after they sang a duet ballad together, and like Finn, Will became afraid, but for very different reasons. The only person who has not shown fear in regards to Rachel's romantic advances was Jesse St. James, who not only welcomed the advances, but apparently returned them as well as instigated them intentionally, due to their similar personalities. Jesse even admitted to being in-love with Rachel, which Rachel admitted in return, after only knowing him for a few days. It was later revealed that Jesse was trying to reconnect Rachel and her mother, making it unclear how much of their relationship was real and how much was part of the plot (though it is hinted at that Jesse genuinely cared for Rachel). In Theatricality it is discovered that her mother is Shelby Corcoran, the coach of their rival show choir, Vocal Adrenaline. Her mother, however, upon realizing how much she missed in Rachel's life, and how painful it was trying to continue a relationship that never existed, decided it was best that they not continue seeing each other. Despite Rachel's diva personality, the members of New Directions care about her. When Jesse cracked an egg on her head, the club members were furious and even threatened to rip his face off. Later she has been trying to improve her personality. In Duets, she let Sam and Quinn win, but as Finn pointed out it was, in a way, for personal reasons. This behavior continues as she offers Kurt some friendly support and invites him to do a duet with her. In Special Education, she helps him try for a solo at Dalton Academy, and offers him immense support during the Dalton Academy Warblers' performance, urging him to smile and giving him a standing ovation. Rachel is very protective of her Jewish roots and her two fathers. She often speaks about them and her upbringing, her unconventional life has given her a solid grounding, but she was still pleased to find her mom in Season One. Despite her being incredibly beautiful, it has been shown many times she's insecure of how she looks, like in Born This Way when she wanted to get a nose job and in Silly Love Songs when she said Quinn was prettier than her.
By Season Three, Rachel still has her determined and self-centred wits. At the first half of the season, she was very determined to get Maria in the West Side Story musical at McKinley. Afraid she won't get the role, she runs against Kurt and Brittany for Senior Class President, thinking for herself, instead of for Kurt, which is generally angry, as Rachel promised she would vote for him. But Rachel's selfishness pulls in, as later she drops out of the candidates and tells everyone to vote for Kurt. When it's time to vote, Rachel knows Kurt will lose to Brittany and cheats by stuffing many votes for Kurt, which Kurt is blamed for. At the end of I Kissed a Girl, it seems Rachel has admitted to Figgins that she did the dirty work and she will be disqualified for Sectionals. She seems to care about Shelby and Quinn a lot, as when Quinn was out to get Shelby for having an affair with Puck, Rachel stops Quinn and they become friends afterwards. On the second half of the season, Finn pops the big question and asks Rachel to marry him, in which she doesn't answer, until Michael, she says yes. When Sebastian decides to blackmail Rachel with a photoshopped, naked picture of Finn and threatening to post it up if Rachel does not withdraw from Regionals, Rachel seems to not care about Finn and says she will go sing and won't matter if Finn's picture is uploaded which angers Finn. At the end of On My Way, Rachel and Finn's wedding has come, but Quinn ends up in a car accident, leaving Rachel completely scarred and the wedding is cancelled. Rachel is saddened and continues to feel bad that it was her fault that caused Quinn to be injured, but Quinn reassures her. By the end of Season Three, Rachel's development from that self-centred, determined person in Season One to the more caring, determined leader that everyone respects.
n Season Four, Rachel has definitely changed. She is a big fish in a big ocean as she goes to New York, Finn sending her off in Season Three's finale. She goes by herself as her best gay, Kurt, did not make it in. In The New Rachel, Rachel can already see how hard she is being tested as her teacher,Cassandra July, pushes her hard to the point that she can't take it anymore. In New York, Rachel is not the boss, she is the learner. Brody Weston, a fellow NYADA student, tells Rachel that the only reason she's in New York is because she's changed into a new, improved girl and she should look at shaping the future rather than always dwelling in the past.
In the third episode of Season Four, Makeover, Rachel has a makeover from Isabelle and Kurt, getting rid of her old looks from Lima, Ohio, and readying herself as the New Rachel, the fresh, changed one. She is seen with a different hairstyle, new looks and particularly different clothing. Before Brody and her sing A Change Would Do You Good, Brody comments on her change, saying that New York City isn't New York City until you have a makeover. When Brody and Rachel have a date/dinner at Rachel and Kurt's NYC apartment, they continually flirt and speak about secrets and changes. When Finn knocks on the door during the Brochel moment, it leaves Rachel shocked. This is because, although Finn is Rachel's first love, Rachel has changed a lot upon coming to New York, especially with a new love interest, Brody.
In Season Five, Rachel is finally making her dream come true, playing Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. Even though she loses Finn, she proves to be very mature and strong. During the second half of the season, however, some of her old attitude kind of returns because of fighting with Santana over the startdom at Broadway, but later, in New Directions, they make up and remain friends. Ever since, she has progressively returned to the way of being she had at the start of the season.
Relationships
Throughout the first season, Rachel and Finn are heavily on and off. During the first half, their relationship is generally kept a secret, but is then cut short when Quinn, Finn's then-girlfriend, finds out she is pregnant. Rachel and Finn's relationship resumes after sectionals due to the fact that he finds out he isn't the father, instead being Puck. This, however, is also cut short when Finn is uneasy about the pace of the relationship and ends it. Soon after, he realizes she is the one he wants, but comes to the grim discovery that she is going strong with Jesse St. James. Their relationship continues and subsequently ends, allowing Finn and Rachel to be together through the season finale, Journey, and into the next season.
Their relationship lasted for a little while in the beginning of Season Two, then abruptly ended when Finn found out that Rachel cheated on him with Puck in retaliation for what Finn had done with Santana during her own previous relationship with Jesse. The two are broken up until the season finale, New York, where they share a kiss on the Nationals stage due to their apparent everlasting love for one another, costing them the Nationals trophy, but rekindling their love once again.
In Season Four, Rachel is in New York, but misses Finn a lot. This can be seen when Brody talks about his failed relationship with his girlfriend, to what Rachel quickly comments, saying that she'll never turn her back on Finn. She continually looks through pictures of her and Finn on her iPhone.
As time goes by, Brody and Rachel's relationship strengthens, Brody able to admit his crush for Rachel, but Rachel, still remembers Finn. In Britney 2.0, as Rachel and Kurt decorate their NYC apartment, Rachel paints Finn's name and draws hearts around it, indicating that she still loves him. Kurt reminds her that Finn let her go to give her space and because he loves her, Rachel trying to take that in. But at the end of the episode, she paints over Finn's name. Rachel is beginning to shift her thoughts.
In the episode, Makeover, Rachel goes through a makeover and changes her ways, her appearance and she and Brody's relationship grows further. While Brody and Rachel have dinner at Rachel and Kurt's NYC apartment, all of a sudden, they make out, and then the door knocks. Rachel, assuming it's Kurt, answers the door, only to see Finn at the doorstep, grinning. Brody gets up behind Rachel as he watches the two. Finn sees Brody and his eyes shift back at Rachel, full of confusion and hurt. Rachel has changed and even though Finn was her first love, upon entering New York City, she decides not to dwell in her past and this impacts Finn, because Rachel can't take it anymore.
In The Break-Up, Finn is still unaware of Brody and Rachel's kiss, but does suspect something. Rachel is told about Finn's experience in the army and how he was shot and she decides to let him have a "NYADA experience" to see if maybe he would want to be in NYADA. But Finn knows it won't work out. When Rachel, Finn, Kurt and Blaine go to a NYADA student hang-out bar, Callbacks, Brody and Rachel sing and Finn can see the chemistry between them. Afterwards, Finn forces Rachel to admit what's going on and she does, leaving Finn disheartened. They both go to sleep without talking. Just like last time, Finn leaves Rachel and doesn't answer her calls and texts and when she finds him back at McKinley's auditorium, she is infuriated at how he keeps making her chase him and she's tired of being confused and she doesn't need him to give her freedom, and with that, Rachel says she can't do it anymore, at least for not for now and says that she and him are done.
In Glease, Rachel and Kurt return to Lima, Ohio knowing that Finn is directing and Blaine is being featured in the school production. Upon entering McKinley, Rachel and Kurt have an awkward scene with Blaine and Finn where they greet each other nicely. When Marley and Ryder and the rest of the cast perform You're The One That I Want, Rachel fantasises her and the rest of the old members of New Directions and their lovers singing. She and Finn sing for the audience and at the end of the performance/fantasy, she runs into the female bathroom. After a phone call and learning of Brody and Cassandra's affair, Rachel comes out of the bathroom in tears. Finn comes out of the corner and calls for her. Finn says she missed the curtain call. "Have you been crying?" Finn asks. But Rachel denies, saying she's fine. "For two years, I was the guy you came to for every little problem. Are we just gonna, pretend that we're not even friends anymore?" Finn says.
"I just, I shouldn't have come here." Rachel replies. "It's just, it's too weird." Finn asks then why did she come.
Rachel says he doesn't know that, but Finn says that he knows her and the four different types of crying: Fake crying, Singing crying, Disappointed crying and the crying over a guy which Finn knows very well because Rachel reserved it for Finn. Rachel then lets it out, "Well, I told you we shouldn't talk about this." Finn says then maybe they shouldn't talk about anything anymore. He says that no contact and not even in song and when she comes to visit, he doesn't want to know about it. Rachel replies and says it's a good idea and despite not knowing what will happen between them, she'll know that he's the guy who made her feel like the most special thing in the whole world and it doesn't feel that way anymore. "It just feels sad and confusing and the worse part is... it doesn't really feel that bad anymore.." Rachel says. Finn, full of hurt, replies that whatever made her cry for that Brody guy it made sure she didn't cry for himself.
Despite Finn asking Rachel not to talk to him, they have a small phone call after Rachel announces that she won her Winter Showcase at NYADA. This takes place in the episode, Swan Song. Finn, angry and uninterested to talk, gets motivated by Rachel as she says that Glee Club isn't all about competing after their loss at Sectionals. She says that he shouldn't give up on their dream and not on New Direction's either.
In I Do, Finn tells Rachel about him kissing Emma in the previous episode. She believes it's because he was angry that she and Brody moved in together, but he lashes out at her saying that not everything is about her. They soon meet up in the auditorium, and decide to do a duet together at Will and Emma's wedding reception. Emma leaves Will at the altar, though the reception still goes on. Rachel tried to tell Finn that it is not his fault Emma left. When Finn realizes how much he misses Rachel and that they were meant to be, he gave her a speech about it and they went to the stage to start singing their duet, We've Got Tonite, which leads to them getting a hotel room and getting intimate. Rachel leaves while Finn is sleeping and returns to New York and Brody, who decorated the apartment. She does not tell him anything that happened with Finn, just that he was doing good.
In Sweet Dreams, Rachel calls Finn and asks him about how things are going on at college and sounds shocked when she hears that Puck is there with him and is roommates with him. She asks him about her Funny Girl audition and wants to know what song he thinks she should sing, telling him 'No Barbra." He suggests she go with something that takes her back to her roots, something that will make the producers fall in love with her in that moment on the stage. She replies with a thank you and tells him that was "perfect advice."
In Love Love Love, Rachel is seen walking around New York singing Yesterday walking by Sardi's and longingly looking into the restaurant (presumably remembering her date with Finn). She is then seen on the Central Park Bridge taking out her phone and looking at a picture of the New Directions' first win at Sectionals.
In The Quarterback, many of the New Directions are gathered at Finn's locker memorial and place red drumsticks in honor of him. Kitty remarks that this is sort of cheesy, but Kurt appears with Rachel who said "No it's beautiful. I just had to see it." Rachel is then seen standing in front of her friends in the choir room, telling them that she doesn't really know what to say either. She says that she loved Finn and that she knows Finn loved her, too, and that he also loved everyone in glee club, past and present. She goes on, explaining that before Finn came into her life, she used to sing alone in the car and when she and Finn got together, the first song they sang while driving was Make You Feel My Love, which she then sings for Finn. Later, Rachel finds Will alone in the Choir Room. When she asks him how he's doing, he says that he's okay and asks her about her. Rachel says that she doesn't know how she feels, but that she had their future together all figured out. She says that she was going to make it big on Broadway, and maybe even do a Woody Allen movie. He was going to take over Glee Club at McKinley and when they were ready she was just going to walk through the door of the Choir Room and tell him "I'm home." and they would've lived happily ever after. When Will asks her if she told Finn about this, Rachel says that she didn't have to tell Finn, that he knew. She then shows Will a plaque with a picture of Finn and a quote of his, "The show must go...all over the place...or something," which she had made and together, they hung it up in the Choir Room.
Solos (In a Group Number)
Season One Song Episode Solos with Push It Showmance Artie, Finn, Mercedes, and Tina somebody to Love The Rhodes Not Taken Artie, Finn, and Mercedes Imagine Hairography Jump Mattress Smile You Can't Always Get What You Want Sectionals My Life Would Suck Without You Finn and Tina Hello, Goodbye Hell-O Finn and Mercedes Express Yourself The Power of Madonna Mercedes, Quinn, Santana, and Tina Like a Virgin Emma, Finn, Jesse, Santana, and Will Like a Prayer Finn, Jesse, Kurt, and Mercedes Run Joey Run Bad Reputation Finn, Jesse, and Puck Total Eclipse of the Heart Any Way You Want It/Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' Journey Artie, Finn, Kurt, Mercedes, and Puck Don't Stop Believin' Artie, Finn, Kurt, Mercedes, Puck, and Santana To Sir, with Love Artie, Finn, Kurt, Mercedes, Santana, and Tina
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