I believe that what gets underestimated is retention after the initial reach. Sure, one reel might receive thousands of views, but if there is not anything interesting about the content and people do not get intrigued to return, then the process would not continue. The accounts i observe are growing through recognisable styles rather than current trends.
It feels like the greater trend here is Insta preference for content that provokies a reaction, rather than following a particular format. i have witnessed the succeess of very basic reels, that manage to grab viewer attention through the first few more seconds of the video rather than through editing and special effects.
Even today, the reels have proven the easiest way of getting discovered, but in my opinion, many people tends to emphasise more on the format than on the content perspective. A plain reel with a gud start and a gud enough reason to be shared would work better than those heavily edited ones. i have even noticed that some accounts grew faster with their reels and carousels.