Is Patrick really dead?
You'd like to think so. Because no matter how dumb and anticlimactic the storyline is if he died that way, I think everyone is even more tired of being fed the 'surprise, he's back' plot twist device. Writers being unimaginative as they are, I don't think you'll do better than one of those two options.
But to put a positive spin on this, gotta give them credit for backing down on pointless or out of control sub plots. Having a lone terrorist mastermind bouncing around from place to place wreaking havoc and staying exactly one step ahead of the hunters is an idiotic story that goes nowhere, so if they killed him off to focus on developing a better story then kudos. Same goes for sending away that idiot British companion to the Mission Impossible girl. She's not a leading lady so lets not try to force her character to develop. Same goes for killing off the VP and completely writing out the wife. That spoke was spiraling out of control and they ended it instead of trying to save it. So overall I think they're following good direction.