A couple of noteworthy things happen in The Alliance. First we get to see just how far Jim will go to pull a prank on Dwight, which would be the running theme of these two guys for the entire series. With Dwight paranoid about being included in the downsizing of Dunder Mifflin, he does the one thing that will assure himself the best possible way to get inside information, he forms an alliance with Jim, who then turns this around to feed Dwight as much disinformation as possible to further drive his paranoia. It's awesome that Pam gets in o the prank herself to sell it. But the kicker comes at the end when Dwight thinks that by dying his hair blond, that this will give him an advantage.

The other noteworthy thing in this episode is the first appearance of the PPC (Party Planning Committee) with Angela, Phyllis and Pam looking to throw Meredith a surprise birthday party. The PPC would become a staple of the show and it still is.