Going into the Season 3 Finale, I still think it was a dumb decision (Spoilers)

I understand a lot of you will hate me for this, but at this point in the series I still feel killing Jimmy off was a terrible idea. I waited to see how this season would roll out without him, and I set my opinion aside for the moment, but I... don't know the show is just not the same.

I think the equivalent of Jimmy's death to another show would be if Breaking Bad had Walter White kill off Jesse Pinkman in Season 2 or 3. The show still would have been good, but not great.

I loved the set piece of Nucky killing Jimmy and his set piece of World War 1 and everything, but why couldn't they just had him survive? Nucky could have shot him and left him for dead, but then somehow Jimmy makes it back alive.

ALL of Season 3 could have happened as it were (even the Gillian killing the fake Jimmy storyline) with Jimmy having his own side story.

The confronation between Jimmy and mom afterward would have been glorious, for example.... and Jimmy could have been the guy to kill Gyp or something, and get on Nucky's good side again.

Jimmy was the character each great show puts in for a viewer to relate to, and the show just feels empty now for me, although it is still good.

Thoughts?