YMMV / The Burnt Part Boys

• Ho Yay: Pete and Dusty, along with Jake and Chet, are Heterosexual Life-Partners to such a degree that it's not hard to interpret their relationships as more than being strictly platonic.
  • For Jake and Chet:
    • Chet is very loyal, suppressing his own grief from being a homeless orphan in order to be a good friend to Jake. He never seems to realise his potential as a miner because he's constantly reassuring Jake that he deserves to be the foreman, even though Jake doesn't want to work down the mines at all.
    • While Jake doesn't show much positive emotion throughout the show, he does seem to open up about his feelings to Chet and is able to enjoy himself when they're together, something he rarely does with anyone else.
  • For Dusty and Pete:
    • Dusty is just as loyal to Pete as Chet is to Jake. Dusty struggles with a lot of guilt because he's unable to understand what Pete is going through, and has 'prayed a hundred prayers' for Pete to have the happy family life that he's got. He's intensely jealous when Frances joins the team and because of this is actually quite cruel to her during their eventual fight. He accompanies Pete to the Burnt Part despite a) the fact that he doesn't really want to go there, and b) his own self-esteem issues that make him think he can't do it. When he eventually gets himself lost in the forest, he makes his way up to the Burnt Part by himself despite being 'completely undone by the woods' according to stage directions. When they eventually get trapped in the mine, Dusty continues to defend Pete.
    • While Pete seems to sideline Dusty a little when Frances is around, he's definitely very close to him. Pete describes them both as 'hero and sidekick, no matter the outcome'. He opens up to Dusty about his mom, something he only otherwise does with Jake, and that's during an argument. He calls Dusty his 'bestest friend' when introducing him to his dad and frequently mentions their Blood Oath. Pete gets quite upset when Dusty argues with him and threatens to leave. Perhaps most interesting though is that in a previous version of the show, Pete said to Dusty: "I wouldn't exist without you."
  • As well as how they act towards one another, it's interesting to note that:
    • While Pete/Frances and Dusty/Frances is hinted, the most that happens on Pete's end is them opening up to each other, while the most with Dusty is him holding Frances' hand, and he only does so to comfort her when she's upset because they're all about to die. Funnily enough, it's Dusty who actually says (mockingly) that Frances is Pete's girlfriend... because he's jealous.
    • Despite both Jake and Chet talking about female love interests (Jake mentions going on a date with 'Jenny', and Chet mentions 'Eleanor O'Neill' quite a few times), neither of the girls are seen and all mentions of them lead into jokes.

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