Dumpster fire, train wreck, meltdown — pick your unflattering metaphor and odds are that someone is using it right now to describe Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate in Charleston, S.C.

It was not a pretty scene. Anyone tuning in hoping to gain clarity about the field was instead treated to a two-hour collective panic attack. There was too much yelling and cross talk for a coherent discussion to emerge, and the moderators seemed helpless to impose order. The more punches that were thrown and the more blood spilled, the harder it was to tell who was getting the better of whom. As a result, it’s unlikely much damage was done to any particular candidate — as opposed to the field overall, which wound up looking frantic and fractured. And there was precious little fire focused on the current president. The whole fractious spectacle was like a scene out of Vladimir Putin’s anti-American fantasies. Or a Trump campaign commercial.

This is how democracy works. It’s messy, and it rarely runs like most people think it should — especially when the stakes are as high as they are in this race. But even in the midst of Tuesday’s brawl, there were a few illuminating, even hopeful, moments to be extracted, even if the effort left you with a headache.

Unlike last week’s debate in Las Vegas, which focused on taking down Michael Bloomberg, this showdown made clear that all of the candidates not named Bernie Sanders realize that time is running out to emerge as the alternative to the inspiring yet divisive senator — and that they are freaking out. After strong showings in the first three voting states, Mr. Sanders has emerged as the presumptive front-runner. This is a delight for the passionate plurality of Democrats who see him as the inspirational revolutionary who will save this nation. For the rest of the party, many of whom fear that Mr. Sanders is so far outside the mainstream that he would damage down-ballot candidates in the general elections, this development is unsettling if not outright terrifying. Tuesday’s melee provided little solace, as the rest of the field struggled to distinguish themselves as the Bernie alternative.