Reddington's Monologue

Reading this heartfelt monologue is like reading a play - it doesn't quite do it justice without hearing the inflections, expressions, and pauses.

The monologue is from Episode 9, Season 1 of the hit NBC Show The Blacklist.  James Spader plays criminal and FBI informant Raymond Reddington.  In this scene he is trapped in a holding cell with an FBI agent who is near death, each of them surrounded by a criminal group wanting to kill Reddington.

Aware his death could be imminent, but unwilling to go down without a fight, Reddington reacts in his own calm, collected fashion, which is the complete opposite of how a normal human being would respond to that level of threat.  You can tell he feels the reality of death pressing on him and it causes him to reveal some deeply personal longings.  These longings are what motivate him to defeat his enemy.  The moment is one of the most poignant I have seen on a network series.

The youtube link will be taken down eventually for copyright so try typing "Reddington Monologue" in some search engine find it.  Here is the monologue:

Have you ever sailed across an ocean, Donald?
On a sailboat surrounded by sea with no land in sight.
Without the even the possibility of sighting land for days to come?
To stand at the helm of your destiny?
I want that one more time.
I want to be at the Piazza del Campoin Sienna. To feel the surge of ten horses go thundering by.
I want another meal in Paris, at L'Ambroisein the Place Des Vosges.
I want a bottle of wine. And then another.
I want the warmth of a warm woman on a cool set of sheets.
One more night of Jazz at the Vanguard.
I want to stand on the Summits and smoke Cubans; and feel the warmth of the sun on my face for as long as I can.
Walk on the Wall again. 
Climb the Tower.
Ride the River. 
Stare at the Frescoes.
I want to sit in the garden and read one more good book.
Most of all, I want to sleep. I want to sleep like I slept when I was a boy.
Give me that
Just one time.