A treasure trove of ruminative messages about mental health, Mental Coach Jegal keeps its spirited run to inspire in acknowledging inner pains.
For people who are emotionally weary of the pressure and stress coming from career and life; you might need doses of encouraging words from this series.
abbyinhallyuland watches Mental Coach Jegal on Viu
Episode Recaps: 01 – 03 | 04 |
The Striking Building Featured In “Mental Coach Jegal” Is In Futuristic City of Songdo
Mental Coach Jegal Episode 5 and 6 Highlights
Ga-eul’s spot on the national team becomes short-lived and she has to fight for that spot in a race that will determine who will make the cut as official members.
“It takes strength to hate someone. I don’t have time for that.”
With assigned rooms for the Short-track Speed Skating Team set, Ga-eul joins Sun-ah in the room. The two athletes that are under Coach Oh’s red list. Ga-eul insists on staying in the same room and reiterates what she previously told Ga-eul that she needs her to up her motivation for the race as she is the team’s ace.
News of Moo-kyeol’s dealing with a known drug seller reaches the national team higher-ups and his parents. Just like what Coach Jegal predicted, he started to suspect anyone. He also tries to approach Ga-eul, but she sticks to her message that they remain invisible to each other.
From the athlete’s counseling conducted by the mental health coaches; Seung-ha shares with Coach Jegal that Ga-eul struggles with her support system. Her strong aversion to men is also evident.
Getting chummier from exchanging thoughts about the athletes, Seung-ha asked Jegal the reason behind his leaving after he drowned himself with all sorts of medicines. It turns out that he just followed what she cryingly told him to vanish somewhere and die. He reassures her that she was the one who snapped him back to reality.
Coach Jegal waits for Ga-eul to finish her practice and they chat about the upcoming contest that she needs to win. He advises her to just focus on one chair to win the contest. When he asked her about Moo-kyeol, she averts the question right away.
“They say that it’s natural to be unstable. But if the instability is too much to bear, don’t take it all alone.”
True to what Team No Gold Medal predicted, Gu Tae-man hands Moo-kyeol to CADA, the agency that checks on athletes suspected of using drugs.
Instead of letting Moo-kyeol escape, Coach Jegal also helped CADA get the urine sample for drug testing. Meanwhile, Coach Oh gives the date of the national team music chair game to be on the same day that Ga-eul has to represent her company team.
Informing Coach Oh about her schedule at National Sports Festival that coincides with the team’s game, Coach Oh annoyingly made Ga-eul choose between her company team and national team.
Moo-kyeol still stubbornly refuses Coach Jegal’s offer and also insists on joining the national team selection albeit his inability to be in the waters.
With Tae-man’s initial plan backfiring, he tries to get through Moo-tae about his sister’s current situation. He and his mother insist Ga-eul foregoes the National Sports Festival and pay back the contract money.
On the day of national team selection for both the swimming and short-track speed skating; Ga-eul arrives after much contemplation. With Ji-young distracted and feeling isolated by the team members, her rhythm is offbeat, thus she didn’t make the cut.
Of course, Coach Oh insists Ga-eul made an intentional move to win. Standing up for herself she declares she had a clean win which made Coach Oh furious.
Just then, the youngest member stood up to tell Coach Oh to just leave, unable to bear the abuse and trauma they are getting. She decides to quit to settle the issue of the members of the national team.
“Whatever you decide make sure you choose what you really want to do, not something the world or other people expect you to do.”
Ga-eul’s small win is short-lived as she learned her company team is disbanding and is demanded to pay for missing the sports festival. That of course is Tae-man and Coach Oh’s ploy. Her day gets frustrating when she returns home and gets a phone call asking for payment for her dad’s facility care.
Confronting her mother and brother who just came home, they explained her father will be moved to a government facility. Ga-eul burst out with all the pressure to be good at being an athlete and vents out how there was a time her mother witnessed how she was beaten up by Coach Oh and chose not to protect her. Her mother insists that it could be her fault that she was penalized.
Leaving their house, under the pouring rain, Ga-eul looks back on all the words told by Coach Jegal about how she allowed everyone to treat her as a pushover. She rushes to the No Medal Club hideout and pours her emotions. Finally, and fully opening up to Coach Jegal, she was welcomed by the team.
Mental Coach Jegal Episode 5 and 6 Musings
Amidst the disheartening situations tackled in the lives of national team-level athletes; Mental Coach Jegal smartly integrates healing notes to those disappointing realities.
We can infer that Ga-eul and Moo-kyeol used to be on good terms or maybe lovers, but the rumor about Ga-eul living Coach Oh’s room caused their tie to be severed. Rooting for Jegal’s mission to oust Coach Oh is such an advocacy every fan of this drama would root for given how the actor playing the role is so good, he’s really giving a new meaning to the word despicable.
Hopefully, now that Ga-eul voluntarily acknowledged that she needs help, her determination to not be walked over would be as strong as her declaration that she’s not that strong. Notably, Lee Yoo Mi’s outburst scene in episode 6 deserves applause for its beautifully captured moment of vulnerability.
Something that this series has been nailing well as it paints the challenges of athletes to have no option but to push themselves. Even when they can’t bear it any longer and against their will.
This series brims with life pep talks that really make sense. Coupled with engaging portrayals from its lead cast, it’s the kind of series that really should be hyped up for its strong content value to heal.
The third week of the series also reveals the past connection between Dr. Park and Coach Jegal and how they became each other’s pains and motivations inadvertently. Romance shaping up between them is also not a bad idea, too.
In the preview for next week, we see both Ga-eul and Moo-kyeol working together with Coach Jegal to regain confidence and move past the traumas they incurred. However, it seems that Doctor Park clashes with his approach.
We’ll see if they will be able to compromise and if Coach Jegal can finally put an end to Coach Oh’s happy days.
Be inspired to succeed after accepting failures and setbacks as seen in the beautifully captured characters of Mental Coach Jegal. International fans can watch it on Viu and tvN Asia.
Photos: tvN Drama | Screencaps fromViu
[wpedon id=”2271″ align=”center”]
