Frank Sobotka

Frank Sobotka runs the Baltimore stevedores' union, watching the port he loves wither as shipping jobs vanish and dredging money never comes through from politicians he's paid off. Gruff and weary, he's already made compromises to keep the docks alive, funneling money to keep his union afloat while smuggled goods move through his checkpoint.

Chris Bauer plays him as a man drowning in decent intentions, a labor leader trying to save a dying way of life through means he knows are wrong. The show never lets you write him off as a criminal; it makes his grief for the working waterfront so plain that his compromises feel less like sin than tragedy.