Reviewed by Aaron Haynes

I can't remember ever not knowing about Community Clash for as long as I've been in the community. I joined the board a year or two before it was released, but thinking back, it just seems like it's always been around. This is either consequence from me taking forever to get around to watching it, despite finding the idea interesting and reading a few surprisingly well-written scripts, or it's one hell of a testament to the staying power it has. I'd like to think it's the latter -- what Sammy has put together here is a series combining the most memorable community personalities with such a dry, self-referential tone that you can't help but grin. Each episode seems to have a consistent theme where the characters aren't quite sure what they're doing here, and repeatedly break the fourth wall to address the fact that they know they're in a movie because, really, they can't think of anything else to say.

I mean this in the best possible way. Community Clash connects so well because it quite literally yanks every one of its characters out of the real world and sticks them in a room together. It plays like I'd imagine a real-life meeting between these characters would play. No one's really sure they want to be there, and they all end up putting pressure on Sammy's character for being so sloppy with the script and animation because it's a common ground. And the reason it draws us in rather than sucks us out of the movie is because Sammy's character is an anchor for everything that happens in the series -- he's so dry and so laid back that any possible sting or serious implication that Community Clash is clumsy and poorly managed is not only deflected, but made into a genuinely funny through line for the series. It's a rather brilliant balancing act.

The first episode starts out with a surprisingly well-directed road sequence, which serves to set up not only the episode, but the whole series on subsequent viewings. It really feels like the beginning for Community Clash as a show instead of just a setup for the first punchline of the episode. Which we find out it is, as Sammy arrives at a mud hut and starts to knock on the door, only to have Andres De La Hoz kick it down and send him sprawling. The opening is great because Sammy and Andres have great chemistry (uh...character-wise); their personalities bounce off of each other in a really engaging way for us as viewers, which bodes well for introducing us to the show's tone. The pacing for the conversation is slow and meanders a bit as Sammy's dialogue repeatedly addresses a point tangent to what's actually being discussed (another running theme for the show, I've found), but it's always interesting, rarely predictable even while capitalizing on Andres's exaggerated personality, and ends with a great opening punchline for the main titles, delivered in a sideways manner where we are trusted to understand what the movie doesn't explicitly tell us. This sort of smart, subtle zinger style shows up frequently throughout Community Clash, setting it aside from the obvious slapstick jokes of most other attempts at this sort of thing.

Where the first show suffers is in something that really couldn't be avoided -- it bears the burden of introducing all of the characters and easing us into what kind of show it's going to be. As an introductory episode, it's fantastic, and in fact remains probably the most tightly-scripted one thus far, probably because Sammy realized how important it was going to be. But while it's hugely enjoyable and remains the second best in the series (#6 trumps it out as my all-time favorite), it has to spend more time explaining and less time elaborating. Still, it's a necessity, and a very well-crafted and entertaining one at that. I had actually seen another episode before this one, but my eyes lit up just the same as #1 started to hit it's stride, and I was excited to see what would come next. Easily the best show ever done in 3DMM.

Critical Score: 85/100.
Personal Score: 85/100.