For a show that aired on Fox for only a few weeks a decade ago, Joss Whedon’s “Firefly” has inspired quite a cult following.

And it’s a following that no doubt irritates some people. Before he hit it big with “The Avengers,” Whedon was the kind of writer/director whose creativity inspired devout fans, who in turn seemed to inspire detractors who posted online messages along the lines of “These shows, like ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Angel,’ can’t be that good and Whedon is overrated and while you’re at it, go to hell.'”

“Firefly,” famously mishandled in its original network airing, nonetheless found a cult audience that very well might top “Buffy” and “Angel” in its devotion. The show’s “browncoat” fans are fervent to say the least.

It’s not hard to see why.

I watched a few episodes of “Firefly” when it originally aired in 2002 and thought it was … fine. It was a nice-looking, easy-to-follow “space western” about a group of shippers and smugglers who travel from world to world, licking their still-painful wounds from being on the losing side of an interplanetary civil war and trying to stay off the radar of the oppressive government.

The captain of the Firefly-class space ship Serenity, Mal Reynolds (played to perfection by Nathan Fillion) is surrounded by a crew that’s either devoted to him or willing to sell him out or, at various times, both.

The relationship between Mal and his crew was never better served than with “Our Mrs. Reynolds,” the sixth episode.

Mal, Jayne (the somewhat mutinous crew member played by Adam Baldwin), and Zoe (Gina Torres, his loyal former fellow soldier) help a town on a backwater planet rid itself of bandits and desperadoes, “Magnificent Seven” style. After a party honoring the crew, a groggy Mal wakes up on board the ship to find a beautiful young redhead, Saffron (Christina Hendricks, later of “Mad Men” fame), in the cargo hold.

In halting terms, Saffron explains that she and Mal are married and that she was a gift from her town for his help and she would be a good wife to him and doesn’t she please him? Mal is taken aback but is really disgruntled when his crew, led by ultra-loyal Zoe, begins mercilessly teasing him about his young bride.

Saffron sets about taking care of Mal, cooking for him, offering to wash his feet and sliding her curvy body between his sheets to warm his bed for him.

Mal has been warned by Book (Ron Glass), the ship’s resident preacher, of the dangers of taking advantage of such an innocent. “There’s a special hell for child molesters and people who talk in the theater,” Book warns him. “A special hell.”

Of course, Saffron isn’t what she seems. She’s part of a plot by some spacecraft scavengers to capture the Serenity for the value of its parts. Saffron seduces Mal, tries to seduce Zoe’s faithful but flustered husband Wash (Alan Tudyk, priceless) and even, in a desperate moment as her plan begins to unravel, sets her sights on Inara (Morena Baccarin), the high-class “companion” traveling with the crew. The moments near the end when Inara tries to distance herself from her reaction to both Saffron and helpless, unconscious Mal are hilarious.

Likewise, disreputable horndog Jayne’s lust for Saffron and his offering of Vera, his prize gun, to Mal in exchange for his young bride.

The episode played up not only the unlikely bond between the Serenity shipmates but also the excellent cast of “Firefly.”

And who didn’t come away from seeing “Our Mrs. Reynolds” and think, “Wow, Christina Hendricks is beautiful and a wonderful actress?” It was no surprise she found fame as Joan on “Mad Men.”

“Our Mrs. Reynolds” is a high-water mark even for a consistently terrific show like “Firefly.”