During much of the debate, both Biden and Trump spoke to the point, and for the first - and last - time, voters actually heard the candidates arguing with each other on issues of fact.
Not least, this was due to the already classic "mute button", which was used on both Trump and Biden.
Like an anti-bark collar for dogs, it prevented candidates from engaging in interruption.
"I'm jealous," said Fox News presenter Chris Wallace, who led the first debate with pale reviews, praising the night's moderator Kristen Welker.
The Vermont gang was not impressed
I chose to spend the debate evening in a living room in Burlington, Vermont with supporters of Bernie Sanders.
Not because little Vermont will in any way decide the choice, but for the question of whether Biden succeeds in getting the young most progressive Sanders supporters to actually go and vote for him can play an important role.
But the Vermont gang was not impressed by the debate, despite the calmer tone.
"We can not be happy just because the candidates to become President of the United States succeed in behaving like adults once," said one of the spectators on the couch.
This is not the first time I have heard that view.
Many Americans on both sides are genuinely exhausted when it comes to keeping up with the circus that many believe this election movement has turned into.
Sanders supporters became all the happier several times during the debate when Joe Biden expressed progressive political ideas and proposals.
They nodded in agreement when Biden spoke of the systematic racism in the United States, appreciating when he said that the criminal reform of the 1990s, with harsh tightening of drug laws "was a mistake" and that he does not believe that people should go to jail for less drug-related offenses.
Voices Biden can not afford to lose
But one of Joe Biden's statements also poses a great risk to him.
"I would make a change away from the oil industry, yes," said Biden.
But Biden's ambitious climate plan, in which the United States is to be climate-neutral by 2050, is far from popular in all camps.
Many Americans are worried about losing their jobs if a switch to green energy goes too fast or is done too carelessly.
In fact, just the question of the controversial extraction method fracking can affect the outcome of the state that is described as the most important for both candidates to win, Pennsylvania.
Up to 50,000 people work in or around the fracking industry, potential voices that Biden can hardly afford to lose.
Therefore, President Trump was quick to comment on Biden's statement about getting away from the oil industry.
"What he is really saying is that he will destroy the oil industry.
Will you remember that Texas, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Ohio ”?
Trump did better
How did it go for Trump himself in the debate?
He was much more reserved and calm compared to the previous debate, something that many Americans will have noticed.
Still, he repeatedly pressured Biden, including with questions about the former vice president's and his son's affairs abroad.
So Trump did significantly better than in the previous debate - but so did Joe Biden, who was both rapper and sharper than last time.
Winner?
Mute button, of course.