Yeah, see, I got it with Buffy because it made Buffy come across as a bit more of a rather unexpected heroine, some waif who can literally take on and beat the holy hell out of a thing twice or thrice her size, it works in a tv show where you've got supernatural monsters and assorted mayhem...but then, yeah, he did it again with River, than Echo, and....yeah, I see a trend here. I mean, in anime, it's expected, I get it, but live action, not so much.
As for the foot fetish....I hadn't thought of that, but now I'm not gonna be able to unsee that when I watch an episode if that's true. I don't get foot fetishes, I really don't. I'm an old fashioned "interest in female attributes" kind of guy.
The behind the scenes creepiness again...it's harsher in hindsight now, with all the crap that came out of Hollywood. Makes you wonder what was really going on with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Whedon and Eliza Dushku....then again, maybe better not to know. I shudder to think especially in season Seven (which stank just like Season Six) with all the teenage girls galore in that, someone could have easily gotten wrongheaded there.