Warning: full episode spoilers follow.

Note - CBS aired two new episodes of The Big Bang Theory tonight. You can read my review of the first episode here

Reaching hearts and minds.

I wasn't all that thrilled with The Big Bang Theory's Season 8 premiere. But the benefit of airing back-to-back episodes this week is that Chuck Lorre and the gang have two chances to impress. Luckily, "The Junior Professor Solution" succeeded where "The Locomotion Interruption" mostly stumbled. This was a much more entertaining and consistently enjoyable way to kick off the new season.There wasn't a great deal of drama to be had this week in the wake of Sheldon's return. It seems the issue of his living arrangements is one that'll be dealt with at some point down the road rather than right away. But Sheldon did have have to deal with one loose thread from the Season 7 finale this week. Caltech found a compromise with Sheldon's desire to abandon String Theory, but it involved Sheldon becoming a professor and actually teaching classes. That's the sort of promotion you can imagine Sheldon would either be thrilled or aghast with, and he wound up swinging toward the latter end of that spectrum.Thus began a new conflict between Sheldon and Wolowitz when the latter volunteered to take Sheldon's class. These two have always had an interesting relationship in that Sheldon has an extra level of intellectual disdain for Wolowitz and his lack of a doctoral degree. It was fun to see Sheldon throw himself wholeheartedly into the task of trying to prove his mental superiority, especially as Wolowitz proved himself capable of jousting with his new professor. Their rivalry worked because it veered from highbrow to lowbrow and back almost at a whim. One moment Sheldon is trying to stump his student with fancy mathematical jargon, the next Wolowitz is shooting a spitball into his mouth. Speaking of which, Sheldon's horrified reaction to that trick shot was easily the highlight of the episode.It doesn't appear that the teacher/student relationship between Sheldon and Wolowitz will last beyond this episode. But hopefully this doesn't mean the end of Sheldon's teaching career. There's plenty of potential to be had in the idea of Sheldon struggling with the responsibilities and rewards of teaching. Maybe because of his campus-wide infamy, Sheldon will be forced to teach some sort of low-level prerequisite course - Physics 101 or what have you. If he balked at the idea of explaining dark matter to grad students, just imagine his reaction to a group of surly freshmen.This episode didn't give Raj or Leonard much to do beyond egg on the Sheldon/Wolowitz rivalry. It did, however, provide an entertaining subplot that featured all three girls. This was one of those rare weeks where Mayim Bialik got to steal the show as Amy. You really can't blame Amy for latching onto her brief moment of popularity as Bernadette and Penny feuded over Penny's reluctance to study up for her new job. I could see how some viewers would have found Amy insufferably obnoxious as she adopted the "hip high schooler" personality. It's not something that would have worked for any other character on the show, but it did for poor, tragically uncool Amy. Seeing her struggle to maintain her grip on power was also amusing, especially as she raced down the stairs to avoid exposing herself as the creepy stalker listening in on Penny and Bernie's studying.I also appreciated how both segments had happy endings. Sheldon may have lost his one student after filing a complaint with H.R., but at least he and Wolowitz buried the hatchet and celebrated their massive intellects with quizzes and candy. And the minor tension between Penny and Bernie vanished as both acted like grown adults and helped each other rather than launching into the catty, vapid little war Amy so clearly craved. Both segments were given more satisfying resolution than we often see with this show.