Home | Fiction | Poetry | References | Essays | Links | Recommendations | New
 |
The Urs FAQ
by Amy R. original
in 1996; |
Frequently Asked Questions about Urs:
- Who is Urs?
- What is Urs's full name?
- Who plays Urs?
- Is there a FORKNI-L affiliation for Urs?
- In which episodes does Urs appear?
- What is her fate, in the final episode in which she appears?
- How old is Urs?
- What do we know about Urs's family?
- What are Urs's other contacts and relationships?
- What does Urs look like?
- What kind of personality is Urs?
- What occupations has Urs had?
- Briefly summarize Urs's life.
- At length, describe Urs's life.
- Special Notes
- Urs-focused Episode Descriptions
- "Black Buddha, Part 2" (BB2)
- "Hearts of Darkness" (HoD)
- "Trophy Girl" (TG)
- "Ashes to Ashes" (AtA)
- Who is Urs?
- What is Urs's full
name?
Though fans widely presume "Urs" to be a nickname for "Ursula," no on-screen documentation exists for this, nor of any surname. No character ever calls her by any name or nickname but "Urs."
- Who plays Urs?
The actress Kristin Lehman depicts Urs. A regular cast member of Poltergeist: The Legacy (syndicated), she has also appeared on television in Century City (CBS), Judging Amy (CBS), Felicity (WB), The X-Files (Fox), The Outer Limits (syndicated), Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (syndicated), and Andromeda (syndicated), among many other projects, as well as feature films including Dog Park.
- Is there a FORKNI-L affiliation for Urs?
Theoretically, followers of Urs would call themselves "Urchins." However, few, if any, listmembers have been willing to abandon other affiliations in order to take up Urs's banner exclusively. In FKFIC-L War VII, her supporters banded together as "Urs Sympathizers." The Urs/Vachon couple-affiliation is called "Dark Hearts," and references have arisen to a Nick/Urs couple affiliation as "Les Miserables." Numerous fans show interest in the interactions between Lacroix and Urs, but no named faction has formed to represent that.
- In which episodes does Urs appear?
Urs appears in "Black Buddha, Part 2" (BB2), "Hearts of Darkness" (HoD), "Trophy Girl" (TG), and "Ashes to Ashes" (AtA).
- What is her
fate, in the final episode in which she appears?A vampire, Urs dies at Divia's claws in "Ashes to Ashes." Nick's dialogue suggests that Natalie disposes of Urs's body in some fashion.
- How old is Urs?
Presumably 17-22 when brought across in 1890 New Orleans, Urs would thus have been approximately 126 in 1995-96, the third season of the Forever Knight story.
- What do we know about Urs's family?
Javier Vachon is her vampire maker/father/master. Her unnamed mortal father abandoned her and their family when she was twelve, a family which Urs refers to as "we" and "us," implying the presence of at least one other, though whether her mother, siblings, others or a combination remains unknown.
- What are Urs's other contacts and relationships?
Dialogue indicates that Urs has accompanied ("run with") Vachon and his crew (Screed, Bourbon, from the Inca) for most of her existence (BB2, HoD). Lemieux is the mortal man who was presumably her "patron" in HoD past. Lacroix employs Urs at the Raven (BB2), and she appeared comfortable appealing to him in AtA. She has met Nick (BB2, HoD) and turns to him when she needs help (AtA). She knows Tracy by sight, though possibly not by name ("Isn't that Nick's partner?" [TG]). Dialogue in the script and director's cut of AtA that fails to appear in the final version (and is therefore uncanonical) would support the widespread assumption that Natalie never met Urs while she lived.
- What does Urs look like?
Urs wears her white-blond hair, which waves in thick, wide curls, in a neck-length bob. Her eyes are pale green. She's 5'8 and perhaps 125 lbs. When performing on stage at the Raven, Urs tends to wear tight pants and unbuttoned, satiny blouses over satiny bras of contrasting colors. On her own time, off stage, Urs has preferred simple, short-sleeved T-shirts and blue jeans. Urs has worn a black choker necklace, and in AtA dressed in a more sophisticated manner than before, though in black and leather.
- What kind of personality is Urs?
Urs has presumably been suicidal for much of her existence, though we have not seen her act on it since the night she came across to vampirism. When she dwells on this in HoD, Vachon says, "she's like she was when I first saw her," indicating that there have been times when she has been different. Urs tells Vachon, "I don't take death as lightly as you, Javier," and we never see her kill -- though she allows Ellen to commit suicide in HoD.
By her own admission, Urs has spent her life doing "whatever it took" to gain male approval, and some have taken her more-emotional-than thoughtful presentation as a front for that purpose. Others take it at face value, and deem Urs simply uninterested in intellectual pursuits. Urs seems to be a very physical person. It took her a century to understand how her father's abandonment affected her. However, it took her as long to tell Vachon that he did not bring her across for the right reasons, which she must have felt from the beginning.
- What occupations has Urs had?
We know of only two:
Past (1890) -- saloon singer. Present (1995-96) -- dancer in Lacroix's Raven.
- Briefly summarize Urs's life.
Urs, whose father abandoned her family when she was twelve, becomes a vampire in 1890 New Orleans under Vachon's fangs. In the present, she lives in the basement of the Raven, which apparently employs her as a dancer. Dialogue indicates that she spent the intervening time with Vachon and his crew, but no hard evidence of that appears on screen. Divia murders her in AtA.
- At length, describe Urs's life.
In Urs's own words (HoD): "My father abandoned my family when I was twelve. But we told ourselves, we wouldn't let it destroy us. Growing up, I thought I'd forgotten him . . . . I realized I've spent my life searching for my father in every man I've met. Someone to approve of me. To tell me I was a good girl. And maybe even love me. And I did whatever it took."
Urs was singing honky-tonk music when she encountered Vachon, Screed and Bourbon in 1890 New Orleans. Lemieux (presumably she was his mistress; she says "He's a friend," "He's been good to me," and "But I've never denied [him]!") took offense at her speaking to Vachon. He took more offense when Vachon defended her, and was going to cut Urs's throat. Vachon drained him, instead. Vachon offered to take her "away from all this. Someone of your beauty, dancing for fools and thieves . . . ." Urs, however, asked Vachon to help her die, to "Please -- feed and then let me die. Please. Please. Kill me." Vachon, instead, brought her across.
In Urs's words: "I asked you to kill me, not to bring me across. Not to bear for eternity what I couldn't bear for another second. I asked for death, and you gave me forever. Forever." Nothing firm is known of Urs's life between her coming across and her arrival in Toronto.
When Vachon decides to leave Toronto, Urs wants to stay. He has to remind her that she could, that "we're not running as a crew anymore," and clearly expects her to be in touch with Screed. In BB2, Lacroix says that Urs has been running with Vachon's crew for the "past few centuries." Urs is in the Raven as a dancer (BB), a customer (HoD, TG), and as one of those who sleep "downstairs" (AtA). In AtA, she calls Vachon, and they are found in what is possibly Lacroix's office or an adjacent lounge. Urs goes to Vachon's church when he is ill, and then goes to Nick for help (AtA). She is ripped to shreds by Divia in Nick's elevator, and her body is "taken care of" by Natalie.
- Special Notes
Urs usually refers to Vachon as "Javier," though she also uses "Vachon" in AtA.
A webpage devoted to Urs may be found at:
http://forever.vachon.net/urs/The normal method of disposing of unclaimed bodies such as Urs's in Toronto is incineration, though there is no evidence of how Natalie dealt with Urs's body.
Urs has never been seen in Screed's abode on screen; however, BB2 implies that she directed Nick to it, and so must be familiar with it. Urs visits Vachon in his church in AtA, the same episode that confirms her status as a tenant of the Raven and her knowledge of the location of Nick's loft.
In a scene from the "Ashes to Ashes" director's cut which did not make the final version, Nick pulls the sheet over Urs's body in the morgue, saying, "Maybe Urs is better off where she's gone." Natalie, moving a box of test tubes from her desk to the counter, responds, "Bit of a lost soul, was she?" and then sits down at her microscope. Nick, moving to Natalie's side, says, "She hated what she was, but she didn't have the strength to fight it. It's a wonder she was so gentle."
Lyrics to Urs's Song (739K) (HoD):
"I want you to love me, so I can start anew.
Won't live a day longer, if I can't have you.
To yearn for your touch . . . is all I can do.
Desire is heartbreak, if I can't have you.
Without you I'm nothing, and life is untrue.
Why should I live, if I can't have you?"
- Urs-focused Episode Descriptions
Employed as a dancer at the Raven, Urs is on stage when Lacroix points her out to Nick. Lacroix describes her to Nick as "an innocent goddess named Urs" and inaccurately implies that she is two or more centuries old. Nick questions her about Vachon, stressing that this is for Vachon's good as well as others', and Urs presumably gives him useful information, because he promptly finds Vachon at Screed's. Implicitly following a conversation filling her in on recent events, Vachon tells Urs he's leaving Toronto. When she expresses reluctance to leave, he reminds her that they "aren't running as a crew anymore." He promises that he will get in touch through Screed as soon as he can. Urs warns him that the Inca will only find him again if he runs away.
Natalie and Nick trace a murder to a female vampire. Nick initially suspects Urs, but multiple-personality Ellen/Monika/Jacqueline proves guilty. Even Vachon suspects Urs, and comments that she "doesn't know her know her own strength." Urs identifies with the young woman's pain, abandonment and suicidal tendencies. Following Ellen, Urs is accused by Vachon of the murder. "I don't take death as lightly as you do, Javier," Urs responds with some bitterness. Apparently for the first time, she then confronts him with the knowledge that she really did not want to be a vampire. In Urs's words: "I asked you to kill me, not to bring me across. Not to bear for eternity what I couldn't bear for another second. I asked for death, and you gave me forever. Forever."
Singing honky-tonk music in a hotel bar or saloon, Urs encounters Vachon, Screed and Bourbon in 1890 New Orleans. Her "friend" Lemieux takes offense at what he perceives as flirting with Vachon -- and most of her audience -- during her performance. When he threatens her, Screed and Bourbon engage Urs in conversation at the bar while Vachon threatens Lemieux out of her hearing. Urs verbally defends Lemieux, calling him her "friend," who has "been good" to her. Later, he tries to cut Urs's throat, despite her protest that she has "never denied" him. Rescuing her, Vachon drains him.
Urs says then that she has heard of men who live to kill, afraid of nothing; "is that you and your friends?" "We don't live to kill," Vachon answers. "We kill to live." Vachon offers to take her "away from all this. Someone of your beauty, dancing for fools and thieves . . . ." Urs, however, asks Vachon to help her die, to "Please -- feed and then let me die. Please. Please. Kill me." Vachon, instead, brings her across to vampirism, promising her a "beginning" when she had asked for an "end." In the present day, he apologizes.
At the end of the episode, Urs stops Nick from preventing Ellen's suicide. When she explains, "She's like me. Nothing could have saved her, except death. She's lucky," Nick enfolds her in a sympathetic embrace. Speaking with Vachon, Urs muses on whether simply knowing the nature of her problems -- with men, with self-image -- is enough to change.
Sitting at the Raven's bar with Vachon, Urs notes Tracy coming in, asking "Isn't that Nick's partner?" Vachon replies, "Either that or her evil twin." He gives Urs an exasperated look when she asks, apparently sincerely, "She has a twin sister?"
Divia returns to wreak vengeance on Lacroix for locking her in a tomb for two-thousand years, promising to kill all those close to him. Urs seems to sense Divia's evil presence in the Raven, and phones Vachon for comfort. When Lacroix finds them together, Vachon protests, "It's not what you think." "How disappointing," Lacroix replies expressionlessly. Urs recounts her nightmares of children with their heads cut off, insisting she saw a decapitated girl standing over her when she woke. At Vachon's church, Urs finds him dangerously delusional from Divia's bite; she goes to Nick at the loft for help and, though she fights for her life, is torn to shreds by Divia in the elevator on the way up. Because of Divia's poison, Urs does not regenerate, and when Lacroix asks about Urs's body, Nick tells him, "Natalie took care of it."
Urs is a
recurring character in the third season of the syndicated fantasy television program Forever Knight
(1992-1996). She is the vampiric "daughter" of the character Javier Vachon.
FAQ created and maintained by Knightie Amy R., an Urs Sympathizer. Comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.
Home | Fiction | Poetry | References | Essays | Links | Recommendations | New