Was this week's 'Mad Men' the saddest episode ever?

Spoiler alert! Contains spoilers about Sunday's "The Milk and Honey Route" episode of Mad Men.

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner has never hesitated to put Betty (January Jones) through the emotional wringer (and no, we haven't forgotten about that terrible

).

But this Sunday's devastating blow in the series' penultimate "The Milk and Honey Route" seemed unnecessarily cruel, even for him.

After Betty falls on a staircase on her way to class and breaks her rib, the doctor discovers that she has terminal lung cancer, and gives her nine months, maybe a year to live. Her husband Henry (Christopher Stanley) begs her to start treatment immediately, but Betty has all but accepted her death sentence — opting not to tell their children and carrying on with life as usual.

But when Henry clues in Sally (Kiernan Shipka) and brings her home, Betty chooses to put on a brave face for her daughter.
"I watched my mother die. I won’t do that to you. And I don’t want you to think I’m a quitter, I’ve fought for plenty in my life. And that’s how I know when it’s over. It’s not a weakness. It’s been a gift to me, to know when to move on."
She gives Sally a letter to open after she dies, which she later reads toward the end of the episode. In it, Betty instructs Sally to have her buried in her favorite, blue chiffon dress, wearing lipstick from her purse and with her hair done how she likes it. Speaking in the terse, decorous manner we've come to expect from Betty, she ends with this piece of reassurance for Sally, who breaks down crying.
"Sally, I always worried about you because you marched to the beat of your own drum, but now I know that's good. I know your life will be an adventure. I love you, Ma."
Sobbing yet?

Shortly after the episode aired, Shipka took to Instagram with this emotional post:

While others expressed their grief — and distaste — on Twitter.

She certainly was no mother of the year, but no one could've imagined Betty would be given the most dire fate of Mad Men's characters. After all, we saw Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) land a new job and reunite with ex-wife Trudy (Alison Brie) this episode, while Don (Jon Hamm) hung out in the Midwest with small-town grifters and Vietnam War vets.

Guess we'll have to see how it all shakes out in next week's series finale. Until then, bye-bye, Birdie.