SSL, Cookie persistence, and Redirection

Putting it all together, I have:

when HTTP_REQUEST { 
   if { [HTTP::cookie exists "g2_cooks"] { 
     HTTP::cookie decrpt "g2_cooks" "iggus99!" 
     set vipid [lindex [HTTP::cookie g2_cooks] 0] 
     set poolid [lindex [HTTP::cookie g2_cooks] 1] 
     set serverid [lindex [HTTP::cookie g2_cooks] 2] 
     set portid [lindex [HTTP::cookie g2_cooks] 3] 
     if { [catch { use pool $poolid member $serverid $portid }] } { 
       log "$serverid:$portid not local, redirecting to https://$vipid/[HTTP::uri]/" 
       redirect to "https://$vipid/[HTTP::uri]/" 
       reject 
       return 
     } 
     else { 
       use pool $poolid member $serverid $portid 
     } 
   } 
 } 
  
 when HTTP_RESPONSE { 
   HTTP::cookie insert name g2_cooks value [concat [virtual name] [LB::server]] 
   HTTP::cookie encrpt "g2_cooks" "iggus99!" 
   }

A couple of questions:

1) Can I use lindex to pull arguments directly from the cookie, or do I need to set a variable first?

2) In the event I'm redirecting instead of rejecting, do I need the return statement?