1. Oooh. This was not good. Going after the Visser I guess was okay, even the discrediting thing, but she got to caught up in it. Saving Cassie was barely a plan, and though it worked, it was not something I'd be keen to follow. What really disgusts me is that last time they made a huge deal of Rachel, at least a side of her, being able to plan: and then here she goes solely on "attack" with no real forethought. Nauseating. She was far too proud, far too tyrannical, far too resentful, and after all that's happened up till now, I'd have thought she'd know better.
2. They've worked well enough with Jake out of commission that I'm not sure it was critical, more of a sense of security/insurance thing. Why her-well I think this was odd. Most of them are honest and open about their views, even if it's unpopular, and I think Marco could have swayed Cassie and Tobias, so why he went with her was baffling. They were a bit less accepting of her than Jake, but then they should be. Every leader should be questioned, especially if doing something objectionable, and sense she seemed to lose focus, well, it's good they were cautious.
3. I'd say Marco, but I picture him and Rachel reaching an impasse in that set up. I'd pick Tobias, cause while he's not as assertive as a leader should be, but I don't see him in charges as inherently being a problem, he'd hear out his team for perspective. Should have some rounded ideas in that setup.
4. It seems plain that their is a personal thing here between them, and that it was never addressed takes some of the interest out of him. The character seemed like a prat to me, but one-shot, who cares. I think his aim for a seat on the council was odd, since as far as we know the 13 is fixed, and we never saw anyone coming out of that position-but then we never saw much of them anyway. Garatron was awesome, but I don't think physically possible for a large bodied animal to move like that. Also, a striking snake moves on the order of ft/sec. Something moving that fast is moving hundreds of ft/sec, no way snake hits it. You can't have enemies with lasting super forms, but that it came in once and disappeared without explanation was also rather disappointing
5. I think it's attitudes weren't described, but its abilities seem fitting. As cool as hitting 60 on foot must be, life as a cheetah seems pretty intimidating. One of the lightest things in the med-large size land animals means there's a lot of things that won't overlook you, that will fight you rather than let you pass by. I think I'd be skiddish in that vain. This wasn't the best creature to use on Visser Three-it couldn't have taken him down while moving top speed, and in getting to the kill position, the speed is gone, and you have a pissed of Andalite and a gang of Hork-Bajir. It's a cool morph, and I can't help but think it would be good to have, but here was not a good application.
6. A book store owner, a hair salon, news reporter, seems random to me. Don't get me wrong, they could do a lot by having people in media and court. But they don't seem to so. This is at best a gamble to get people into The Sharing or down to the pool on case by case bases. It would take decades to conquer the state this way, much less the world. I did appreciate that the Animorphs are finally making good on their intelligence-too much of these later books comes to a cold opening of busting up a gathering of known controllers, and then moving on to the real plot-this was actually making the run of the mill Controller relevant for a little while. Beyond assassination, which I doubt they'd be keen on, they would be better able to work out intelligence for individuals: politics, bases, something.
