Loose Ends/Trivia

Approach

 * The ACR the player starts out with has Digital Camouflage.
 * It is possible to kill Archer and Toad, the snipers, by carefully planting a Claymore next to them and shooting it. You can also kill them by cooking a frag grenade, throwing it, and make one of them pick it up. If held long enough, the grenade will explode in his hand or just after throwing, also killing them. Later on in the level, you hear Archer talking to Ghost about not seeing Makarov. If you run back to Archer and Toad's position they are still dead.
 * If you pickup Archer's or Toad's M14 EBR, it will only have around 20 bullets despite they are able to give sniper support throughout the level. This is most likely because the dev team didn't expect anyone to actually do this.
 * The mines used at the beginning of the level are bounding land mines designed to jump 3-4 feet in the air so as to increase anti-personnel lethality over a larger area.
 * It is possible to trigger the strike team's advance and thereby the mine ambush while near Archer and Toad. Oddly, most of the time the mine shoots out low enough that you could jump over it and realistically, going prone would get Roach a face full of shrapnel. In-game, you do survive if going prone; jumping kills you.
 * If the player shoots while in "shell-shocked" status due to the landmines, the weapon's fire rate seems to double. This is easily seen if using the ACR.
 * There are more mines than just the ones used in the ambush; some are along the driveway of the house and detonate if the player attempts to exit the level through the driveway gate.
 * If the player runs down the driveway when the two bulletproof jeeps appear, it is possible to notice a wrecked jeep blocking the driveway before the two jeeps are destroyed.
 * In the ambush there are soldiers firing RPGs from atop a ridge to your left. However these soldiers are dressed in Urban camo as seen in the Rangers campaign.
 * When Archer and Toad fire the Javelins the smoke trails are from a different spot than their starting spot.
 * When rushing ahead, it is possible to see two wrecked jeeps with one lying on top of the other at the house.

Breaching

 * When you get to the safehouse, go to the basement and breach with Scarecrow. Use a pistol and get headshots on the two hostiles directly in front of you. They should be sent flying backwards and may even go through the wall behind them. Ghost00001.png
 * There are two inflatable rubber sex dolls spread around the level, one underneath the staircase in the main room where you place the DSM, and another in a compromising position in a bathtub upstairs.
 * In the upstairs bathroom, (not the sex doll one but the one at the top of the stairs) there is a teddy bear stabbed into the wall with a Tactical Knife.
 * On one of the lower shelves in the kitchen there are two packages labelled "Real Cherry Pie". These are likely stale given that they make metal clangs when shot.
 * In one of the upstairs rooms of the house is a poster of a Russian woman wielding a Thompson submachine gun. This is the same poster found in "All Ghillied Up" and the multiplayer maps: Derail and Vacant. It is also out of the map in "Hidden."
 * The basement weapon rack has 3 throwing knives in it forming a triangle.
 * Throughout the level the player will see numerous Sentry Guns lying around. However, none of them are fully assembled, so they cannot be used against the Ultranationalist counterstrike.
 * There is a scale in the upstairs bathroom that reads 1lb.
 * When Scarecrow says "Frag out" when you are clearing the basement, he actually throws a flashbang.
 * The plans for the airport attack in "No Russian" can be found in the living room, including a blueprint of the airport and a readable newspaper report on the massacre.
 * Many newspaper clippings can be seen around the main floor, revealing that Makarov was responsible for a bombing attack on London's Piccadilly Circus, as well as the GUM supermarket in Red Square, Moscow. It also confirms that Russia's Ultranationalist party leader became the president and that Makarov held up photos of Bravo Six (Gaz, Griggs, Price and Soap) and declared they were responsible for the death of Imran Zakhaev.
 * There are several AK-74U magazines on the tables in the safehouse, meaning that it was probably intended to be in the game, but was taken out before the final version. It is also possible Makarov took one for his own protection and left a few magazines behind.
 * There are several UAV/Air Support laptops throughout the safehouse, the keyboards of which are written in Russian.
 * This is only one of two levels in the single-player campaign (the other one being "Of Their Own Accord") where the Barrett M82 can be found and used. It is found in one of the rooms of the basement.
 * Inside the armory there is a poster for cigarettes with a picture of Stalin on the box.
 * At the corner of the house, left of the main entrance, there's evidence of what appears to be two executions; there are two bullet holes in the wall with blood stains and a trail of blood leading to and over the patio fence. There is also a pool of blood on the ground floor where the trail leads to.
 * If the player looks at the blue refrigerator in the kitchen, they can see multiple frying pans floating in mid air on top of it.
 * If you go to the boat house, you can jump into the water, but cannot swim off.
 * If you head toward the extraction point at the beginning of the level, there is a fence in the way.

Download and defense

 * When starting to download the files, Shepherd informs you that his ETA is five minutes. He doesn't arrive until you finish downloading all the files AND get to the extraction point, which takes more than five minutes.
 * While waiting for the files to download, the estimated time displayed on screen is often grossly inaccurate and changes dramatically, compared to the actual time it takes for the file transfer to complete; this may be a reference to the process of transferring files between PCs using a bad connection.
 * Some of the Little Bird helicopters that drop troops can be destroyed, while others can't.
 * If you run out of claymores, the ammo cache in the basement does not replenish them, as with "Wolverines!".
 * This level appears to have the most flashbangs thrown at you from enemy forces as they try to breach the house while you and Ghost defend it.
 * Rarely, on Veteran difficulty, Ghost can be seen using an AK-47 while defending the DSM. It's possible this is the same one that Roach uses at the end of the level.
 * You can crawl into the fireplace behind the table where you download the files.
 * It is possible that on Recuit difficulty, if the the player stays and guards the basement, shots will no longer be heard and the enemies will disappear. They will return when the player leaves the basement.
 * The strategies the Ultranationalists use to attack the safehouse are different every time (i.e. one playthrough they might first attack from the boathouse, another playthrough from the field).
 * Rarely, an Intervention shot can be heard and Archer says "Target down.", "That's one down.", "Dropped him." or " Got him." This is impossible because Archer and Toad are seen with M14 EBRs at the beginning of the level, however this could be the product of echo, an oversight, or they could have changed weapons (this is unlikely as they do not have any spare equipment).

Exfiltration

 * Shepherd's Shadow Company soldiers can be heard shouting "Go, go, go" and "Coming in hot." The audio is the same as that used in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ' s "Charlie Don't Surf".
 * When Roach is hit by the explosion near the end and when Ghost is drags Roach to the Pave Low, he will wake up with an AK-47 Grenadier fully loaded, along with ten grenades. These are probably given to him by Ghost, as Roach's were most likey damaged as a result.
 * Roach will not die when Ghost is dragging him no matter how much he is hit.
 * Using a PC cheat, you can see Ghost carrying Roach's headless body when he is about to board the helicopter.
 * When Shepherd shoots Roach, the .44 Magnum makes the gunshot noise similar to the sound of the Desert Eagle, but makes the sound of an Intervention shot when he shoots Ghost.
 * Radio chatter after the betrayal suggests that Archer and Toad (the overwatching snipers) were discovered by Shadow Company using thermal detectors ("Gold Eagle on the ground, we've got snipers on thermal"), but it is unconfirmed, as they could be Ultranationalist snipers.
 * In the above comment, it is most likely the snipers that fire at you in the ambush as you can see them using ghillie suits and WA2000s.
 * Shepherd appears to have two Magnums, because when he shoots Roach and Ghost, you can clearly see that he also has one in his holster. This is because when NPCs draw their pistols their character model doesn't update to show that they have their pistol drawn, instead they are holding a pistol and have one in their holster.
 * When they toss Ghost's body next to Roach's, the player can carefully see his eyes are white as if they're rolled back into his skull, possibly due to the impact of the point-blank headshot by Shepherd's magnum.
 * When the Shadow Company soldier dumps the gasoline on Roach, Captain Price shouting through your comms system: "Ghost! Come in, this is Price! We're under attack by Shepherd's men at the boneyard! Soap! Hold the left flank! Do not trust Shepherd! I say again, do not trust Shepherd! Soap, get down!--" can be heard.
 * When watching the clip, it appears only Roach is burned, Ghost appears to be just left there. However, since both men were thrown into the same puddle of gasoline, it is possible that Ghost was burned as well, either way, the fact that Ghost doesn't appear to even move around while being thrown indicates he has died.

General

 * Because Ghost and Roach discovered the intel inside of Makarov's safe house that implicated Shepherd and Makarov, it makes them the "loose ends" to which the mission title refers. This is why Shepherd eliminates them. Though it is strange that Shepherd didn't inquire about whether they had actually looked at the intel, for if they hadn't he could have just kept them in the dark and spared them. Perhaps he was afraid that Soap and Price whom had also found similar intel, and had been ambushed by Shadow Company, would contact them sooner or later (ironically, just as Roach and Ghost are being executed Price contacts them) and wanted to pre-emptively remove any possible threats.
 * This level takes a few cues from Call of Duty 4's Heat, in that the player must hold back waves of enemies from a safehouse and then make a final push downhill straight through advancing enemy forces to an awaiting extraction team of Americans.
 * If you restart the level there is a possibility of the entire level being in slow motion, similar to the one you experience while evading the land mines. Your character, NPCs and enemies will all run and shoot in slow motion, however their voices will all sound normal. (Confirmed on Xbox 360)
 * If you manage to save either Ozone or Scarecrow they will follow you and Ghost toward the extraction point. However, after some point they will slow down, and if you watch them as you leave, they will be overwhelmed by the enemy and get killed.
 * In this level you can find nearly every weapon in the game apart from the MG4, M1911 and the W1200. You can even use a portable Barrett .50 Cal, unlike in any other mission. (You can use a non-portable version in "Of Their Own Accord".)
 * On Recruit, it is possible to save one or two Task Force 141 troops, but it is extremely difficult. If you managed to save both Ozone and Scarecrow (by staying with either one who was staying behind at the lawn to cover the three others inc. the player to get to the LZ until all enemies are eliminated), either one of them would mysteriously disappear before you make your run downhill.
 * In the safehouse living room, there is a table in the back left corner with newspapers titled "The Infinity Ward Times".
 * The multiplayer map "Estate" (with some modifications) and Special Ops mission "Estate Takedown" are based on this level.
 * The moment when Roach is shot by Shepherd, Ghost screamed "No!" the exact manner as Gaz screamed when Viktor Zakhaev commits suicide.
 * This is the 2nd of two levels that Shepherd's rank is abbreviated, the first time in S.S.D.D.
 * When Roach is dying, unlike Sgt. Paul Jackson and PFC Joseph Allen, the screen turns black instead of turning white like the 2 above.
 * This is the only time is the campaign that Red Smoke is used. Ghost will use it as you are knocked out near Shepherd's Pavelow. Ghost will say "I've popped Red Smoke in the treeline." This is followed by him desperately trying to keep Roach from passing out again.