Any respectable TV criminal needs a front – a respectable-looking day job to explain their piles of cash. The perfect front simply fades into the background. It’s boring and plain, takes up very little time, and demands no further questions. Sometimes, though, a front can become more than just a smokescreen. A criminal might take on another job just to hide loot, but end up finding a new calling in life. The TV front gives us a glimpse into the mind of the TV criminal. Does it reflect some deep seated secret, or missed ambition? Does the criminal have the smarts to come up with a believable hiding place? Both of these things and more can be gleaned from a TV front.
Five great TV fronts:
Los Pollos Hermanos – BREAKING BAD (2008 – )
Gustavo Fring the drug dealer is exceptional in his field. Amongst a bevy of pretenders to the throne, small-time thugs, and ambitious out-of-towners, he shines as the king of New Mexico’s meth market. He knows talent when he sees it, remains unafraid of risks, and inspires incredible loyalty from his key team members. Gustavo Fring the legitimate businessman however, is almost as impressive in his own way. Starting with a recipe for fried chicken passed down to him by an old friend, Fring created a mini-empire of fast food outlets, turning a more than healthy profit and keeping the people of Albuquerque fed. Los Pollos Hermanos (‘The Chicken Brothers’, a title which proves significant) does everything a good front should: it justifies Fring’s comfortable (if not luxurious) lifestyle, allows him to hide in plain sight as a meek restaurateur, and gives him the kind of cash needed to start up trust funds and charitable causes, as well as underground superlabs.
B&B Enterprises – THE WIRE (2002 – 2008)
B&B (Barksdale and Bell) Enterprises is not so much a front as an attempt to escape from a life of crime. Would-be reformist drug dealer Stringer Bell is a different breed of criminal; while his peers get high on their own supply or commit acts of indiscriminate violence, Bell takes business classes at the community college, at which he excels. Avon Barksdale, his business partner and childhood friend, prefers a different tact: thinking of a thing he wants, then taking it. B&B enterprises begins as a simple front, a means through which the crime empire can filter their ill-gotten gains. But for the unrealistically ambitious Stringer, the real estate game is a way off the streets, a way around the constant hassle from police and threats of violence from rival dealers. Though Stringer and Avon have already amassed significant fortunes through Baltimore’s heroin trade, for Bell it is not enough. Stringer believes that he has the smarts to change the drug game, to tame it in a way. To turn a violent and dangerous world into a smoothly running capitalist industry. B&B enterprises is his retirement plan; unfortunately, the streets aren’t so easy to quit.
Teller-Morrow – SONS OF ANARCHY (2008 – )
The Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club of Charming, California is up to no good 24/7. The clue is more or less in the name. They argue that, while their methods may be somewhat criminal, their results and intentions are good. So they run guns and provide protection to a fairly villainous mob. They also keep the streets safe from violence and drugs, and keep a watchful eye over the small population of Charming. Their garage, Teller-Morrow, is supposedly their place of business; it’s a fairly large workshop where the gang can hang out, fix their bikes if they are so inclined, or just kick back with far too many beers after a hard day’s zooming around on Harleys. The few members of the local police force that want to shut the Sons down should really be ashamed of themselves, though, because this front is so transparent, so brazenly not the place of work for these guys. For example, a not-concealed-in-any-way back office, complete with an enormous table on which is carved the group’s ominous grim reaper logo. The Sons need this for their super serious meetings, but a bunch of mechanics probably wouldn’t. If that’s not evidence enough, just chuck a spanner at one of them and watch them fumble with your car.
Bennett General Store – JUSTIFIED (2010 – )
Terrifying matriarch Mags Bennett is a true pillar of the community. Lording over the not-coincidentally named Bennett County, she is the queen of her backwater castle, a fearsome figure who no right minded criminal would cross. Bennett General Store is her headquarters; when she’s not flogging local produce to the townsfolk, she can be found scheming the next step in her grand plan with her three sons, who carry out her orders with varying degrees of self serving sneakiness. Mags’ sidelines are moonshine and marijuana, two trades she has completely locked up; the insular community won’t allow another would-be peddler to step on Mags’ turf. Those foolish enough to try will more than likely meet their end at the bottom of a mineshaft. But these indiscretions are small potatoes for Mags; indeed, supercop Raylan Givens is more than aware of Mags’ weed and booze business, and isn’t especially bothered about either. What Mags really hides is something far more dangerous: a desire to leave behind the criminal lifestyle so popular in (Justified’s version of) rural Kentucky. Mags wants to leave her grandchildren a better legacy than a whiskey distillery and a hold on the soft drugs market. And this will take manoeuvring far more dangerous than her years of criminal dominance.
The Office of the Mayor of Sunnydale – BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1997 – 2003)
Mayor Richard Wilkins is the trusted, friendly face of a vibrant California town. He’s big on family values, old fashioned pleasantness and hygiene. However, like Sunnydale itself, his wholesome exterior masks a dark underbelly. In his case, this underbelly is an all-consuming desire to become an enormous snake-like monster. Wilkins is perhaps the most genial baddy Buffy and co ever face. He’s always ready with a smile and a slice of homespun wisdom. He’s just as likely to punish failure with a grisly murder as he is to reward success with a piece of apple pie and a glass of milk. Wilkins is nothing if not a patient man. He kept his mayoral day job for a century, giving press releases on the latest vampire-related massacre and taking meetings with the school board, all the while waiting for the right time to turn into a rampaging demon. To give fair credit, Wilkins’ mayoral abilities seem commendable. In a violent, scary town, he is a voice of reason, restoring sanity by blaming the latest monster attack on a gas leak or PCP in order to keep the peace. He’s big on public outreach, too, adopting Faith the rogue slayer after her friends turn their backs on her. He doesn’t need to fear Sunnydale’s myriad of evil; soon enough, he’ll be the biggest monster of them all.
And one not so good one…
Barone Sanitation – THE SOPRANOS (1999 – 2007)
On the face of it, Tony Soprano’s figurehead job at Barone Sanitation seems like a sweet gig. He strikes fear in the heart of every legitimate employee and spends the rest of his time goofing off: organising a betting pool, enjoying a brief tryst with a receptionist, drawing a bowl of fish. On top of that, his control over a corner of New Jersey’s sanitation empire has its criminal advantages: calling strikes, disposing whatever he might have that wants disposing. The problem for Tony, though, is that it simply isn’t a functioning front. Tony Soprano is so entrenched in the mob lifestyle that he simply cannot hide his Mafioso aura. From the local priest to the average high school kid, everyone in the neighbourhood knows exactly who Tony Soprano is, and who he is with. Tony’s front is so poor, in fact, that his often touted job (‘I’m in waste management!’) has itself become a euphemism for an individual with mob connections. If only he could have spent more time at the fake office.
