Most efficient and thoughtful way to understand and absorb quarterly earnings model in Financials Sector?

Prepping for interviews in a new sector (think specialty finance, depositories) and beginning to dig into the modelling which is different from what I've done up until this point (primarily consumer). Any tips on how to learn the model inside-out? Is the best approach to just recreate the model? Felt like it might be waste of time. For reference, have access to JPM, Barc, EVR, MS models