I always thought it was so tropey. It just doesn’t strike me as thought-provoking if you can sum up something with “a parallel universe decided to release an evil version of me with an evil beard and nobody else to come from a parallel universe and frame me aboard my ship”.

My friend, where do you think the Beard of Evil trope came from?

That’s like saying Once More, With Feeling is tropey because it’s a Musical Episode.