I'm steeling myself in preparation for the debut this week of two more Portland contestants on the next season of Project Runway, a show many claim to have sworn off after Gretchen Jones (another Portland export) took home her controversial win. The producers, at least, can't seem to stay away from the local talent pool, though the two they've chosen, Bryce Black and Becky Ross, as recent Art Institute grads, are less ingrained in the Portland scene than the names we're used to seeing plucked. We'll start to know what to make of it on Thursday, when the first episode airs (9 pm on Lifetime). How inarguable is it that the show has jumped the shark? Have they chosen less experienced designers in order to crush the Portland winning streak? These are the questions I ask myself, and will continue to ask every Thursday night (if you'd like to spare yourself, I'll be recapping the episodes here). In the meantime, here's some homework. Watch the intro "home visits" to Ross and Bryce to get to know them a bit better, and—just as a bonus—check out one of their more interesting competitors, Anya Ayoung-Chee, a former Miss Universe Contestant (Miss Trinidad-and-Tobago) who scandalized the pageant community with a girl-boy-girl threesome sex tape. Oh my.

Well I guess we know who wins the apartment competition.