Gretchen Berg

Gretchen Berg
Portrayed by	Madeline Zima
First appearance	Orientation
In-story stats
Known ability	None
Nickname	Retchin' Gretchen
Gender
Home	Austin, TX
Residence	Dormitory at Arlington University
Occupation	Student

Gretchen Berg attends college with Claire.

Character History

Orientation

At the Arlington University campus, Gretchen meets Claire, whose name she recognizes from the murdered cheerleader incident in Odessa, TX on Homecoming night at Union Wells. Gretchen suggests that she would have changed her name, and Claire tells her that she did for a while, and she was hoping that people would have forgotten.

Later, at the dorm mixer, Gretchen apologizes to Claire about ever mentioning the murder, and then the two girls attempt to play Guitar Hero III. Gretchen improves her skill at the game, but neither girl does well.

Jump, Push, Fall

Gretchen waits outside of Claire's dorm room for Sandra to bring Claire back after Annie's death. Gretchen discusses the supposed suicide note with Claire and her mother, who believes Claire probably missed it. When Sandra leaves, Gretchen claims that this must be a murder, and they need to need to find a way to prove it.

Gretchen gets some books on forensic science and brings them to Claire while in a cafeteria. She explains the process of the "Jump, Push, Fall Test" that she learned from Crossing Jordan, using an orange as a visual aid. When she gets to "push", she sends the orange flying into a table of girls, who reluctantly, with disgust on their faces, return it.

Gretchen says they need to get a dummy or cadaver that matches Annie's height and weight. Claire doesn't want to get involved, but Gretchen tells her she already is.

Gretchen sees Claire heal after Claire jumps from her dorm room window. The girls exchange awkward waves.

Ink

Gretchen tries to get Claire to talk to her about what she witnessed. Later, Noah comes by and invites Claire to lunch. Claire goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth and Gretchen approaches her and asks if she's a vampire, some kind of alien or government experiment. She follows Claire back to her dorm room and takes advantage of Noah's visit to get herself invited to lunch.

At the lunch, Gretchen talks about Claire hiding her powers. She then talks about how she plans in majoring in biology and talks about a case she read on the Internet about a girl who didn't feel pain. Noah realizes she's talking about Claire. Gretchen then asks what Claire plans to major in. When Claire says she doesn't have to declare until her third year, Gretchen says that some choices are inevitable. She then asks Noah about his job and he admits that he's retired. She leaves for the restroom and Noah and Claire discuss the situation.

Later, Gretchen and Claire walk back to the dorm and Gretchen apologies for being too pushy. She says that when she was in junior high, students used to tease her and call her "Retchin' Gretchen" because she smelled of vomit and they thought she was bulimic. Claire finds that hard to believe but Gretchen doesn't deny it. Claire invites Gretchen to ask her anything, and Claire reveals her power. Later, the two girls chat and Claire lets Gretchen cut her hand to show her how her ability functions. Shortly after this, Gretchen asks to borrow a book from Claire, who responds by inviting her to be her roommate.

Hysterical Blindness

Claire and Gretchen share breakfast and Claire admits that it's a pleasant change of pace for her to have a normal morning. She tells Gretchen how much she is looking forward to a normal life when suddenly, Rebecca Taylor appears and offers Claire a position in Psi Alpha Chi. Gretchen declines on her behalf, not believing that sororities are a good place for making friends. Claire insists that it will be fun and Gretchen reluctantly agrees to tag along. The two of them arrive late for the mixer and as Claire speaks with a pledge, she learns that Gretchen has only been talking about her.

Claire later notices that Gretchen is wearing her sweater. She allows her to continue wearing it but then finds several pages on Gretchen's laptop devoted to her. Gretchen returns and is disappointed when Claire tells her to go to the mixer before her. During the mixer, Claire is nearly crushed by a pole. When she looks up to where the pole was, she sees Gretchen. The two of them return to the dorm room and Claire reveals that she knows all about Gretchen's computer. Gretchen insists that she is not stalking Claire and then kisses her, admitting that she only has a crush. Before Claire can say anything, Becky and the other sisters rush into the room, announcing that Claire and Gretchen are officially in the sorority.

Becky later returns to the carnival and reveals that it has been her doing all the awful things to Claire, not Gretchen.

Strange Attractors

Claire and Gretchen, while trying to get to sleep, decide to discuss Gretchen's revelation to Claire in Hysterical Blindness. Before they are able to do so, Rebecca and two other girls from the sorority come to kidnap them for 'Hell Week'. After an uncomfortable and awkward trip in the trunk of a car, they are brought to an abandoned building, where they participate in a scavenger hunt against another team to decide which team gets to skip Hell Week. While searching, Rebecca, unbeknownst to Claire and Gretchen, tries to kill Gretchen. Gretchen dismisses it as a coincidence, but Claire suspect that one of her kind may be in the building, trying to kill Gretchen. As they explore the building, they discuss Gretchen's bisexuality, how many girlfriends and boyfriends Gretchen has had, and even if they are virgins; Claire is, Gretchen isn't. Eventually, they find a teddy bear, the item they were searching for. However, Rebecca begins to strangle Gretchen. Claire hits the still invisible Rebbecca with a baseball bat and frees Gretchen. Rebecca pins Claire to the wall with an iron rod, but Claire manages to hit her with a hook, causing her to turn visible. The other team enters in shock to see Rebecca, who runs away and turns invisible again, and Claire pinned to a wall. Against their advice Gretchen pulls Claire of of the rod, and the other team witnesses Claire' healing.

Memorable Quotes

"I wanted to be Claire Bennet again. I thought people might forget."

"No, girl. Google's your enemy."

- Claire, Gretchen (Orientation)

"Where did you get those, the homicide bookstore?"

"Is there such a place?"

- Claire, Gretchen (Orientation)

"Don't you want to prove your roommate was defenestrated?"

"Of course. And yes, I know what "defenestrated" means."

"Well, don't get mad at me for using it in a sentence."

- Gretchen, Claire (Jump, Push, Fall)

"Maybe we could swipe a cadaver from the medical school. What? It's a victimless crime."

- Gretchen (to Claire) (Jump, Push, Fall)

"I have a crush. I'm crushing on you."

- Gretchen (to Claire) (Hysterical Blindness)

Notes

• Gretchen tells Claire that she tried out to be on the cheerleading team, but the other cheerleaders said her cheers were more like taunts. (Orientation)
• Gretchen confides in Claire that she once was bulimic. (Ink)
• Gretchen is a bisexual. (Strange Attractors)

Trivia

• Gretchen drives a black Nissan Cube with Virginia license plates EI29438.
• Gretchen says that her former roommate smelled like pickles. (Ink)

Fan Theories

Please refer to Theory:Gretchen Berg for fan-created theories and other speculation.