Fishtank revisionists are typically shot on sight, but we are a merciful bunch. I sentence you to watching all of season two post Cole elimination and pre Jimmy elimination so you can re-evaluate your opinions.
I acknowledge that the show was not produced to the quality the audience deserved, and that if Jimmy weren't there, things would not miraculously get better. But having Jimmy continually go against production and put half effort into challenges to impress his discord group were a common theme across the season that lowered the quality of the show. Keep in mind this was also the cause for sabotaging the arc they had going with the mental hospital.
Summer obviously had a role to play in this as well, but when all this was happening, it was Jimmy going around spurring on 'clues' that they were all in on the joke. Like Ted did in S3
I finished watching E7 and it seemed production had a similar line of thinking. They used Jimmy to drive content throughout the show, and he was typically the one who would set the tone for the other fish for activities going on at the house. It came down to Jimy v Brian. As much hate as Brian got, could you imagine what Jimmy would have done if they brought his sister, or ex girlfriend on the show? He'd lose his fucking mind. Sure Brian complained quite a bit, but he was able to overcome when it came down to it. And when he had disagreements with people, he didn't lay his hands on them without their consent.
It's a tragic story for Jimmy. Watching him say bye to Sam outside and crying that he wanted to make Ben and Jet happy, I felt bad for him. I felt I was being a little harsh for typing my previous message. But then at the end of the show, they let Jimmy back in- and he couldn't stand being picked on by the semi cute autistic girl, cause it reminded him of his childhood rejection- so he resorted to violence...AGAIN. When you look back at how many chances Jimmy got, it's impossible to feel bad for him. Production did everything they could to help him out.