St. Berry

St. Berry
GENERAL
Glee
Character	Rachel Berry
Character	Jesse St. James
Canonical?	Canon
Status of Relationship	Married
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Het

1

St. Berry is the het ship between Rachel Berry and Jesse St. James from the Glee fandom.

Canon

Season One

Rachel and Jesse first meet in the season one episode "Hell-O". Rachel visits the music store, looking for something to sing for Glee club. Jesse approaches her and compliments her taste in music. Jesse introduces himself as a member of Vocal Adrenaline, New Directions' rival. They sit down together at the piano and sing a duet of Lionel Richie's "Hello". He suggests that they should meet up again some time, and in a deleted scene they are shown together in Rachel's bedroom. She has invited Jesse over to help her choose a "Hello" song for the week's glee club theme, and he suggests "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love" from "A Chorus Line". The two perform the song, and share their first kiss. They begin officially dating not long after. Finn is, understandably, suspicious of Jesse. Rachel grows suspicious as well, and confronts Jesse. He assures her that he's crazy about her, and the pair share a kiss. However Shelby Cochran, Rachel's biological mother and the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, is watching in the wings.

In "The Power of Madonna", Rachel is concerned about having sex with Jesse. She discusses it with the other girls of the glee club, and they encourage her to do it. They set up a date, but Rachel chickens out at the last moment. She says that it feels wrong, knowing that Jesse is a member of a different glee club. Taking that into count, Jesse decides to transfer to William McKinley High. The other students take this news rather poorly, but Rachel is relieved to see that Jesse would do this for her.

In "Bad Reputation", Jesse finds himself triple-cast in Rachel's "Run Joey Run" music video. He calls the move humiliating, especially as Rachel's boyfriend. They reconnect in the hallway later, and Rachel tries to explain that she needs to be popular. Jesse replies that he should be enough for her. Later, Rachel sings "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Finn, Puck, and Jesse all join in on the song, and Rachel and Jesse are shown dancing together in Ballet Club. Jesse leaves the choir room at the end of the song, leaving Rachel all alone.

In "Dream On", Jesse is seen talking with Shelby in her car. He admits that he's starting to genuinely like Rachel. Shelby reminds him that she only asked him to befriend Rachel, not "seduce" her.

In "Funk", Jesse returns to Carmel High and Vocal Adrenaline. He calls Rachel in between classes, and asks her to meet him out in the parking lot. She runs out to him with a smile on her face, and Jesse smiles back. However his expression soon changes as other members of Vocal Adrenaline appear from behind parked vehicles and throw eggs at her. They hand Jesse the final egg, and he looks reluctant to use it. Rachel tells him to "break it like you broke my heart". Jesse tells Rachel that he loved her, before breaking the egg over her head.

Season Two

Jesse returns to the show at the end of season two. He comes back to Lima in "Prom Queen", telling Rachel that he was kicked out of college. He asks her what she's doing for prom, and the scene ends. Rachel and Jesse end up attending with Mercedes and Sam, as a group of friends. While eating at Breadstix before prom, they bump into a jealous Finn. At the dance Finn only grows more jealous as he sees Rachel and Jesse dancing together. The boys get into a fight, and Sue intervenes. Both get ejected from the prom.

In "Funeral", Jesse returns to William McKinley High to help the glee club prepare for Nationals. He holds auditions for their lead singer, and when Rachel comes out to perform "My Man", he asks if she is singing to anyone in particular. She replies that she's not, and Jesse seems disappointed by this. Still, he heaps praise on her performance. Jesse selects Rachel as the lead singer, and asks her to meet him in the auditorium. He explains that she is the most important thing in his life; even more than being famous. The two share a kiss, while Finn watches on jealously from the wings. In the end, however, Mr. Schue decides to not have a soloist at Nationals, and to fire Jesse from his role of coach.

In "New York", Jesse arrives at Nationals despite being fired in the previous episode. He sits beside Mr. Schuester during the New Directions' performance of "Pretending", and tells him that he "couldn't stay away". It is unclear if he is talking about staying away from the competition or staying away from Rachel. Finn and Rachel share a kiss during their performance, and Jesse reacts with jealousy. He tells them that the kiss will cost them the competition, although tells Rachel that she looked beautiful up there regardless.

Season Three

Jesse returns in "Nationals". He is the head coach of Vocal Adrenaline, who will be performing against New Directions for the title. He finds Rachel before the competition, and tries to get under her skin. However, Rachel points out that she understands his mannerisms; when he's nervous he gets mean, and runs his hands through his hair like Danny Zuko from Grease. She goes on to compliment his performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the 2010 Regionals competition. When Rachel says that New Directions is definitely going to win, Jesse smiles and comments that he likes her sudden cockiness.

After New Directions' performance, Jesse finds Carmen Tibideaux, the NYADA Dean, in the lobby. He urges her to accept Rachel into the program at NYADA, telling her that Rachel is "the most talented person" that he's ever met. He insists that Rachel will one day be a star, and that is why Carmen should accept her to NYADA. Jesse is not seen again in season three, but in the next episode we find out that Rachel was accepted. It is likely that Jesse's words had an effect on Carmen.

Season Six

In "We Built This Glee Club", Jesse again returns to Lima. This time he has come to encourage Rachel to take a role in a Broadway show. He will be playing the male lead, and Rachel was offered the part on his recommendation to the director. He tells her that they have always made great music together. At the end of the episode, Rachel rejects his proposal to return to Broadway. She instead decides to return back to NYADA. Jesse shows pride in her decision, even if they won't be performing together on stage. The two share a kiss.

In "Dreams Come True", we flash forward five years. In the future, Rachel and Jesse are married. Rachel is pregnant with Blaine and Kurt's child, and it is implied that Jesse and Rachel will soon be trying for their own children. Later that evening, Rachel wins a Tony award. Jesse is present in the crowd, and kisses her following her acceptance speech.

Songs

Hello (Lionel Richie) | Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff

Jesse and Rachel sing this song when they first meet

Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love | Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff

In a deleted scene, Jesse and Rachel sing this song together in her bedroom

Like a Virgin | Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, Matthew Morrison, and Jayma Mayes

Jesse and Rachel sing this song alongside the other couples as they consider sleeping together

Run Joey Run | Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, Cory Monteith, and Mark Salling

Rachel puts together this music video as a way to show off her "bad reputation", by pitting Jesse, Finn, and Puck against each other as her love interests

Total Eclipse of the Heart | Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, Cory Monteith, and Mark Salling

Rachel, Jesse, Finn, and Puck sing this song after Rachel's "Run Joey Run" betrayal

Rolling in the Deep | Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff

Rachel and Jesse sing this song together when Jesse returns to Lima in season two

My Man | Lea Michele

Rachel sings this song while thinking of Finn, but Jesse wishes she was singing it about him

It's All Coming Back to Me Now | Lea Michele

Rachel sings this song at Nationals, and it features many reaction shots from Jesse

Listen to Your Heart | Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff

Rachel and Jesse sing this song together when Jesse returns to Lima in season six

Fanon

St. Berry was a contentious ship back in the heyday of Glee. Many fans disliked it due to the "egging incident" in season one. However, it had it's strong supporters due to the way Jesse seemed to understand Rachel in a way that Finn didn't. When Cory tragically passed away between seasons 4 and 5, many fans (even those who did not previously ship St. Berry) wanted to see Rachel end up with Jesse because of Lea Michele's off-screen friendship with Jonathan Groff.

Many fans of the ship cite the chemistry between Lea and Jonathan as their reason for loving the ship. St. Berry currently has over 500 works on AO3. It is Jesse's most popular ship, and Rachel's third most popular after Finchel and Faberry.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Rachel/Jesse tag on AO3

Rachel/Jesse tag on FanFiction.net

TUMBLR

St. Berry tag on Tumblr

St Berry tag on Tumblr

WIKIS

Rachel-Jesse Relationship on Glee Wiki