Yeah... That's the reason I thought it was a good mission.
Well... I don't honestly think linear is a valid argument, considering pretty much the whole of ME2 is more linear than this mission. As for dull... I guess that's in the eye of the beholder. I thought it was interesting, although I did have Liara and Javik with me in that mission, which maybe gives a better experience than if you were there with other squad mates.
And this is exactly why I see it as a positive in this case. Games are too focused on always achieving success. This is a mission that failed, and there's nothing you can do about it. It leaves you feeling bad, angry, defeated, and, well, that is what it was supposed to achieve. I honestly wanted to stop playing at that point, but I kept going. Interestingly, after speaking with Anderson afterwards, he motivated me to keep going. This is a memorable moment for me, because it seemed like they deliberately beat you down to pump you up again. Maybe the pumping back up didn't work for everyone, but it did work for me. It was one of the moments I was most impressed with the game, but it seems I am quite alone in that opinion.
Well that would suck lol. The game already has too much death as it is. The mission is fine as is imo.