RIP: Nate Fisher, 1965-2005

Couldn't the writers of HBO's Six Feet Under have found an alternative direction for the show in its final episodes than to kill its lead character? I mean, I get the layers of irony: he's a funeral director, he reluctantly returned to the family business after his father dies, his wife was murdered, he escaped death in Season 2 ; but honestly, did he have to die?