Lovely, I got a deadline for some front-end work but the back-end is in shambles right now :D

ur deadline is proportionally delayed w/ the unfinished BE parts ;)

Unfortunately that's normal.
I suggest to implement the frontend as far as you can do with mock data. Then you can say that your part is done and you are waiting for the backend implementation or fixes.
Optimally, it should be testable with mock data. Just let the testers know about that.
After the backend delivers, it should be a relatively small task to change the mock data to real data.

This is also a good technique to decouple the frontend from the backend in terms of domain models.

"blocked"