The last TVNZ debate was criticised for too much noise and little substance -- a bit like the banned firecrackers of the past.
Last night host Mark Sainsbury, Labour leader Helen Clark and National's John Key seemed to have taken the criticism on board.
There were only a few attempts to talk across each other and neither erupted like the angry, crackling double-happy firecrackers of days gone by.
Neither leader was prepared to light any political fuses.
The biggest shots came from filmed questions from viewers and those from the panel -- like abortion, personal beliefs, past conduct and what moved them emotionally.
They were areas fraught with potential difficulty, but the politicians handled them deftly and with honest ease.
Their answers may have had religious viewers burning with a bit of anger, but in the studio there were warm fuzzies all around.
On a night when it was traditional to burn an effigy, both Mr Key and Miss Clark were subtle in their attempts to portray the other as someone who deserved to be placed upon the tinder and set alight.
Miss Clark mildly painted her opponent as far-right political demon dressed up as a kind-hearted centrist.
Mr Key implied she was tired but didn't even try to suggest she was a witch.
The election display in New Zealand has been somewhat overshadowed by the political fireworks on show in the United States, and both acknowledged the spectacular performance of Barack Obama.
Mr Key said the political explosion in the US represented a call for change, Miss Clark saw it as move to the left.
In contrast, the first question to the leaders showed that their policy offerings, on the surface, looked very much the same.
There was one whiff of smoke at one point, when Miss Clark -- a rabid anti-smoker -- confessed to having a "bit of a puff" as a teenager with Sainsbury quipping that he meant tobacco.
This quickly led to the obvious question of whether either leader "had ever inhaled" more prohibited substances.
Miss Clark gave her standard response that she was a student in the '60s.
Mr Key, who was child in the '60s, said he had never inhaled legal or illegal substances, which might have lost him part of the youth vote.
And when it came to breaking the law they both claimed to have led lives of blameless dullness, confessing only to minor traffic offences.
They also said they could imagine having a beer or coffee together, which is a close to the equivalent of a political hug they have ever come.
The fireworks may have been mild and the political fires not too bright, it felt more like a pleasant evening with the two leaders toasting marshmallows around the dying embers of what has been a relatively warm campaign.