A turkey shoot at Croke Park, a place alongside Donegal at the head of Division 1 and a little piece of revenge on old rivals Derry to boot.
It was a positive evening for Dublin who swept to victory with goals from Niall Scully, debutant Conor Tyrrell and sub Lorcan O'Dell in what was a repeat of last year's National League decider.
Derry won that final on penalties after earlier hitting 3-18 over 90 minutes, a tally that Dublin improved upon by two points here in the regulation 70 minutes.
Sean Bugler was excellent again for Dublin with six points from play though his second-half exit with a right leg injury that left him hobbling badly must be a concern.
Luke Breathnach impressed also for Dublin, shooting four points though the hosts were given a giant helping hand by converted Derry goalkeeper Neil McNicholl who will have nightmares about the concession of the two goals, two of which were definite errors.
Derry, hoping that their Round 3 draw with Galway might ignite them following earlier defeats to Tyrone and Kerry, got it going late on and pulled back goals from Brendan Rogers and Conor Glass but left themselves far too much to do.
They weren't helped either by the 59th minute black card of defender Diarmuid Baker which reduced them to 14 for most of the finale.
They'll return to action against Donegal in Round 5, in Donegal, while Dublin will travel to All-Ireland holders Armagh.
Dublin boss Farrell has been at pains to point out that he's treating this year's league campaign as an exercise in squad rotation.
Experimentation is probably a necessity from Dublin's perspective given that so many household names pulled the plug over winter and retired.
With midfielders James McCarthy and Brian Fenton among the departing crew, Brian Howard and Tom Lahiff lined out in the engine room positions this time.
There were full league debuts for Tyrrell in defence and Niall O'Callaghan, Con's brother, in attack too.
Farrell will have been pleased by all of their contributions with Tyrrell immediately influential, forcing two important turnovers in his own defence.
One of those was an interception of a pass by roving Derry 'keeper McNicholl, resulting in a frantic Dublin counter-attack that ended with Breathnach palming to the net.
It was a terrific breakaway and superbly manufactured as O'Callaghan eventually fed Eoghan O'Donnell who played the ball across the goalmouth for Breathnach.
But the 14th minute goal was ruled out for an apparent square ball offence with referee Noel Mooney ruling against Dublin on a couple of other occasions too.
They were caught out for a breach of the 3/3 rule and Shane McGuigan made Dublin pay on the double, slotting over a two-pointer from the edge of the arc.
On another occasion, McGuigan tapped over a handy free into the Davin End when the ball was brought in for apparent Dublin dissent.
But Dublin were too slick and energetic to stay under Derry's thumb for too long and while they trailed by three points after 15 minutes, they came roaring back in the second quarter.
In fact, they outscored Derry by a whopping 1-07 to no score for the remainder of the half to lead by 1-10 to 0-06 at the interval.
Bugler was terrific in this period of boom for Dublin, slotting over two points and finishing the first-half with four from play.
In the absence of McCarthy, Fenton, Paul Mannion, Jack McCaffrey and Michael Fitzsimons, Bugler is an experienced performer who is clearly keen to take on more responsibility.
Scully fits into the same category and his 22nd minute goal was the crucial score that turned the game in Dublin's favour after their early difficulties.
It was a fortunate goal, in truth, as his body shape suggested he was trying to tap over a point off his left foot when O'Donnell fed him from a ruck of players.
Or perhaps Scully, who later kicked a point, simply saw McNicholl a couple of yards off his goalline and opted to punish the Derry 'keeper with a cheeky lob.
Either way it left Dublin in a position of authority and they strode clear with four points in a row after that to close out the half.
Even goalkeeper Evan Comerford, coming forward to give Dublin the 12 v 11 advantage when attacking, got in on the scoring act with a point from play.
Comerford got forward again five minutes into the second-half and fed Kevin Lahiff but his low shot was well smothered by McNicholl.
But Lahiff did better soon after with a precise pass for Breathnach who stretched Dublin's lead to nine points, 1-12 to 0-06.
Even in this era of two-pointer and scoring swings, it was a significant lead that left Dublin eyeing their third win from four.
Tyrrell's 54th minute goal, when his shot sneaked in over the head of McNicholl, set the seal on victory, leaving Dublin 11 clear at that stage.
O'Dell hammered home Dublin's third three minutes later and while Derry piled on the pressure late on, palming in a goal from Glass and a couple of two-pointers from Paul Cassidy and McGuigan, it was mere consolation.
Dublin: Evan Comerford (0-01); Conor Tyrrell (1-00), Theo Clancy, David Byrne; Alex Gavin, Sean MacMahon, Cian Murphy (0-02); Brian Howard (0-01), Tom Lahiff; Sean Bugler (0-06), Niall Scully (1-02), Kevin Lahiff; Niall O'Callaghan, Eoghan O'Donnell, Luke Breathnach (0-04).
Subs: Con O'Callaghan (0-04, 1tp) for Niall O'Callaghan 45, Lorcan O'Dell (1-00) for O'Donnell 45, Sean Lowry for Kevin Lahiff 52, Davy Keogh for Bugler 56, Peadar O Cofaigh Byrne for Breathnach 56.
Derry: Neil McNicholl; Diarmuid Baker, Eoin McEvoy, Martin Bradley; Conor Doherty, Brendan Rogers (1-00), Declan Cassidy (0-01); Conor Glass (1-00), Anton Tohill; Ben McCarron, Paul Cassidy (0-03, 1 tp), Cahir McMonagle (0-01); Ethan Doherty, Shane McGuigan (0-07, 2 tpf, 0-03f), Niall Toner.
Subs: Callum McGrogan for Toner 22, Lachlan Murray for McGrogan 41, Padraig McGrogan for Declan Cassidy 44, Niall Loughlin for McCarron 52, Mark Doherty for McMonagle 60.
Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan).
