James Reardon is the head of a 3rd generation west coast crime family, a path that began with a grandfather who was a prohibition era booze runner. But the product in demand today is the high-grade "BC Bud" that Reardon exports internationally. He has a diligent work ethic, which has resulted in the family business flourishing. He uses his family's legitimate businesses of shipping, trucking, lumber and fish as cover for his operations, and to help launder his growing drug profits. He has a keen entrepreneurial mind that keeps his crew flush, and a fair mindedness that keeps them loyal. His business interests and his criminal associates extend half way around the globe. He is at the very core, a family man, and takes his role as father to his daughter and by extension to his crew, very seriously. He is gentle and ruthless at the same time. He is essentially a good leader, with skills that keep the legal sides to his business running smoothly, and growing. As he enters his delicate quid pro quo informer relationship with Mary Spalding, he is forced on occasion to question his own morality and code of honor.