One of my favorite scenes from Firefly is in Heart of Gold where Inara meets Mal after Mal has slept with Inara’s friend. He’s somewhat ashamed at the encounter but she states he needs to get over his puritanical views on sex and is happy for her friend. The next scene shows her alone crying uncontrollably. Don’t know if Josh meant to play the natural law card there but it worked for me.
Ah yes ! While I got that scene and it also hit me like it did you, I admit that I forgot about that.
I think Joss Whedon created Buffy. Buffy was unwatchable dross. When Firefly came out, it was my first interaction with Joss Whedon.
I remember thinking that he is someone I need to follow - someone who actually “gets it”. My disappointment in the real jerkwad was shared by millions of people, I’m sure.