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In the Breaking Bad finale, 'Felina' Walt goes to this gas station where he uses a pay phone to obtain the address of Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz. After this he takes out his watch and places it on the pay phone. Then he just leaves.

What is the meaning of this scene ?enter image description here

5 Answers 5

44

On talking bad aired directly after the finale Vince Gilligan stated it was down to a continuity error.

When they shot the flash forward scene in the first episode of season 5 Walt wasn't wearing a watch. Therefore they had to have it removed.

He also said there was an "artsy fartsy" which was that Walt didn’t need the watch anymore as he was about to encounter Jesse, who gave him the watch, for the last time.

But ye. The primary reason is the continuity error.

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    This sounded hinky to me on the show. BB left plenty of other unanswered questions (Gus Fring's origins, for example) and this thing with the watch seems kind of, well, specific. I saw Vince's explanation but just seemed really out of context.
    – lonstar
    Oct 7, 2013 at 3:54
  • I can’t recall the flash forward scene right now … what happened there?
    – unor
    Oct 9, 2013 at 13:01
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    But He didn't know he was going to encounter Jesse for the last time. I think @steerpike made a better artsy fartsy reason than Vince!
    – Secret
    Apr 16, 2015 at 1:46
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Another interpretation can be, it's the symbol that Walter White had finally accepted his fate. He's never gonna make it alive or never gonna die a normal death (a cancer patient without any proper treatment, isolated in a cold mountain, his family is suffering for all his crimes). So Walt decided he's gonna redeem all of his misdeeds. Leaving watch is the symbol that he isn't Heisenberg anymore, he's now Walter White. And he didn't need that watch anymore, his time is already over. All he needs is redemption and revenge

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Walt is losing weight rapidly and the watch no longer fits. His wedding ring is most important and he places this on a string around his kneck. He holds his family relationship to be the most important thing in his life and his initial motivation for everything. Jesse gave him the watch and I suppose he cuts his bond with him. Though not entirely as we all know at the end!

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The continuity error is certainly the reason, but in Breaking Bad every scene has a meaning. To fix the error, they could have had Walt to (involuntarily) break the watch ; but no, he gently put it on the payphone. Some reasons:

  1. Along with Steerpike's answer, since Walt lost weight his watch doesn't fit anymore.

enter image description here

  1. Also, he is about to meet Gretchen and Elliott, to whom he appears sick and poor (and gives up all his money) ; the watch didn't match the "nothing to lose" look, given what he intends to ask G&E to do.

enter image description here

  1. I don't think Walt wants to get rid of the watch because it was a present from Jesse. At this time, he still doesn't know about the pure blue meth (cooked by Jesse) and probably thinks Jesse was killed by Jack's crew. The "watch" scene is before Gretchen and Elliott meeting, which happens before Walt talk to Badger and Skinny Pete

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This is a very rare and expensive watch, a birthday present from Jesse. It might help someone identify Walt, and prevent him from accomplishing his last mission.

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