I honestly don't mind Eric. Great story requires a great villain, and given how much everybody hates his ass, I think he is fine for the story's progression. However, I really do not want him to completely wedge himself inside the group, but just be there to create obstacles for Max. Like him forcing Max to pay him X amount of money to keep his hands off the girls, Max having to spend money to drug his ass to make him impotent, Max spends money following Eric around to catch him cheating and being a scumbag(this also opens up the world for Max, since I really dont want him to be confined int he house), Max hires a guy to crash Eric's car so he can't come, Max spending money on hitting the dojo to one day be David vs Goliath, ETC.
All in all, they can keep Eric, just dont make him able to completely gain the entire family's trust every time he comes, and make it so Max can prevent him coming over. I thought of this mainly due to Max being able to make so much money now since all cams are up and running, so not having a villain makes it an effortless game, which in turns make it boring.