a major fault may or may not manifest itself as spectularly as that. The whole mixture pitch power gear flap thing is basically just confirming everything is where it should be. I've seen many pilots unwittingly leave the gear down til 1000' or takeoff with the mixtures chopped for the taxi out. The key is to properly identify the correct engine then feather in a swift manner. Why you are feathering it has no significance except for when you are safely back on the ground!
If you are on approach feathering is the least of your concerns, just add a bit of power to pick up the slack of the dead one, bit of rudder and the aircraft will not know the difference. Go arounds are another can of worms as Centaurus mentioned.