At the Flick of a Dime

**Next:** | "Just the Usual Dysfunctional Family"

**At the Flick of a Dime** is the season premiere of *Survivor: Philippines*.

## Story

### Day 1

Carried by two speedboats, two tribes of ten are being taken to the Caramoan island in the Philippines. The tribes arrive at the beach where they stand on their respective tribe mat colors.

Wearing orange is the Gubat tribe, a tribe composed of a published author, judge, biochemist and a college student.

On the other hand, wearing green is the Sapa tribe, composed of an airline pilot, model, marine biologist and a musician.

The Gubat tribe arrive at shore first, followed by the Sapa tribe, with both tribes eyeing each other down upon arrival.

Upon boarding Jeff immediates conversations with the contestants, specifically Destinee for being the youngest contestant this season. The follow-up question goes to Rashad for being the oldest contestant in the game. Jeff asks Grant and Oren from their respective tribe whether they believe they have the strongest tribe in the game. Both members agree that their tribes are the strongest.

After introducing the season title and welcoming the castaways, Jeff officially opens the game with a Reward Challenge. The Gubat tribe shows out and wins the first reward challenge in which they are rewarded flint and 20 pounds of beans. After winning the challenge, the two tribes receive their maps for their camps.

The Gubat tribe arrives at their beach, where everyone introduces themselves to each other by name, age and occupation.

The conversations lead to the tribe agreeing that going to find materials for their shelter is the best move to do. As everyone goes apart in pairs or groups, Kieran, Autumn, Zaid, Nick, Sloane, Cristina and Mao decide to abandon their tasks to take the time to look for the Hidden Immunity Idol.

Seth and Grant are left at camp wondering where their tribe members were. They started conversing whether the game had already begun and the tribe was looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol.

Seth and Grant agree to stick together and look for the Hidden Immunity Idol together. The two of them leave camp to look for the hidden immunity idol.

Seth and Grant continue to look through the bushes, trees and on the ground. Grant informs Seth that he hasn’t found anything and Seth says the same thing

Meanwhile on the Sapa beach, the tribe starts to introduce themselves to each other. The tribe agrees that the first task that they should complete is starting a fire. Oren announces that he is really good at starting fires. The tribe agrees that Oren should get a fire started, but Oren insists that he teaches someone else to start a fire that way everyone knows by the end of the season.

Oren picks Danna to help learn how to start a fire. Danna is ecstatic to start a fire. Oren gives tips on how to light a fire and how to maintain. After twenty minutes, Oren is successful with teaching Danna when she lights a fire. The tribe explodes in applause when the fire remains consistent.

Luz gathers the tribe by the fire to tell everyone how proud she is that a fire was started for the tribe, but she advises them that they need to start working on getting a proper shelter before the sun goes down. Her approach to let the tribe know that they need to work on the shelter rubs the tribe the wrong, more specifically Jaiden.

Later in the day, Oren, Jaiden, Danna and Jasmin decide to leave camp as a core four to look for the Hidden Immunity Idol.

The four of them continue to look through the woods for the idol. Conversations between the four of them grow them a little closer.

They all continue to look individually for the Hidden Immunity Idol, turning over rocks, looking in trees, and using a stick to move items out of the way. The focus turns to Oren as he sticks his hand in a tree to pull out a package with a green rope around it. Oren beams with excitement as he turns around the tree before sliding the idol into his pants.

### Day 2

Starting off Day 2 on the Gubat tribe, the tribe wakes up from a rough night in the Philippines island. The tribe looks beaten down from the lack of sleep. They gather around to start fire so they can boil water.

Seth notices the tribe's morale is low. He stands up and gives the tribe a pep talk about making it through the first night. He mentions that they know what to expect moving forward in this game and if the faster they accept it, the better they will compete down the line. A lot of the tribe chimes in to agree with Seth.

Kieran chimes in with a story about the time that he went camping without anything that he needed, but he made the best of the experience. He mentions that it was one of the best experiences that he could’ve asked for and asks for the tribe to think of this journey like that moment. The tribe appreciates the story that he decided to share with them.

On the Sapa tribe, Danna, Erika and Oren are hanging out together on the beach, bonding, talking about the upcoming immunity challenge.

The three of them continue to hang out on the beach for a while longer before they separate. Oren runs after Erika where he starts talking to her about Dahlia. Oren expresses his concerns for Dahlia in the game and pushes that Erika begins to feel the same way. Erika tells Oren that he will begin to worry about her.

Oren and Erika share a hug before Oren runs off to find Dahlia.

Oren approaches Dahlia about potentionally worrying about Erika in this game. Oren expresses his concerns and reasons why Dahlia should start Erika. Dahlia mentions that she needs more time to think about it.

Later in the day, Jaiden and Rashad hang out on the beach together. The two of them start discussing about Oren and his stunt in with the tribe. Jaiden and Rashad start to bad mouth him together.

Jaiden and Rhett hang out on the beach where they bond over how they agree that Oren is playing the game too hard. Jaiden continues to push for Oren to become the first target if they go to Tribal Council. Rhett and Jaiden agree to stick together and look out for each other.

### Day 3

Gubat and Sapa walk into the challenge site to compete in "Blue Lagoon Bustle." Gubat wins the challenge and will avoid tribal council. Sapa is subjected to the first Tribal Council at night.

The tribe returns to their camp, defeated by their second loss of the season. Oren takes the initative to make food for the tribe after their loss. While serving everyone a portion of the food, Oren serves himself a larger portion than the rest of the tribe. A few tribe members begin to pick up on the larger portioned.

Jaiden starts to vent his frustration about the food situation to Dahlia, Erika, Luz and Rhett. Jaiden's annoyance with Oren's behavior since the beginning of the game starts to grow. Despite the four's effort to calm him down, Jaiden persists with his urge to call out Oren.

Jaiden storms up to Oren where he calls out Oren for eating more food than the rest of the tribe. Jaiden and Oren go back and forth between the situation before it leads to Oren walking away from the situation. Erika and Luz follow after Oren to make sure that he's okay. Oren expresses his dislike over Jaiden. Erika and Luz continue to comfort him.

Meanwhile, Jasmin and Rashad are on a boat together fishing with each other. Jasmin throws out the potential vote for tonight. Rashad mentions that he wants to follow the tribe tonight and feels the tribe is leaning towards Oren. Jasmin agrees that Oren is the tribe target, but voting him out would be the easy move. Jasmin feels that the smarter move is going for a lowkey player like Dahlia. Rashad tells Jasmin that she will continue to keep her in the loop, but he wants to vote with the tribe rather than make a big move.

Jasmin meets with Oren about potentially flipping the vote. Oren agrees that they need to get the non obvious target out of the game. Jasmin throws out Dahlia's name as a target. Oren agrees with Jasmin, but expresses concern with who else they need to bring in. Jasmin mentions Rashad could be a potential ally for them. Oren also mentions Erika and Luz. Jasmin and Oren agree that they need to reach out to them about flipping the vote to Dahlia. They make their way to make those conversations.

Oren speaks with Erika and Luz while Jasmin speaks with Rashad and Danna. The conversations continue until the sun goes down and tribe gather their torches at tribal council.

At Tribal Council, the members of Sapa discuss the early days of the tribe and whether anyone stood out the most. The conversation turns to Oren becoming a main talking point. Jeff asks Oren why people should give him a second chance which he mentions that he is a shield and easy target. Jaiden brings up that the tribe needs harmony in order to do well in the upcoming challenges. In the end, the vote came down to likability or keeping a shield in the game. Despite the initial outcome of the vote, Oren played his Hidden Immunity Idol that negated 6 votes, leaving four votes remaining against Dahlia, resulting in her being the first person voted out.

Sapa returns to camp after Oren played the Hidden Immunity Idol to save himself from going home. The tribe is stunned by the move that was played at Tribal Council. A few members congratulate Oren on surviving another day.

### Day 4

In the morning, Oren feeling at the top of the world after his successful idol play, starts to walk around camp like he owns it.

Oren makes his way to the group with Jamir, Jasmin, Rashad and Rhett. The five of them talk about the craziness of the previous tribal council. Rhett congratulates on Oren for surviving again and apologizes for his vote against him. Oren appreciates Rhett's apologizes. Oren critices Jaiden at Tribal Council. Rhett mentions that Jaiden has good intentions.

Oren mentions that he wants to get revenge against Jaiden for his remarks at Tribal Council. Without a second thought, Oren leaves the group to find Jaiden. Oren finds Jaiden sitting with Erika where Oren brags about still being in the game. Oren makes sly marks towards Jaiden speficially "Another beautiful day to be in Philippines despite certain people wanting me out of the game." Jaiden ignores Oren. Erika is visibly upsetted over Oren's behavior.

On the Gubat Tribe, Sloane and Grant sit together in the shelter while everyone else is gathering food for the tribe. Grant asks Sloane about her head lies in the game. Sloane mentions that she is still feeling people out, and she has no true loyalty to anyone yet. Grant asks Sloane if they can look after each other in the early days of the game. Sloane once again mentions to Grant that she wants to keep her options open.

Meanwhile, Mao sneaks off into the forrest to look for the Hidden Immunity Idol.

Mao looks in trees and in bushes. She scans the tree tops to see if she can find anything. Mao continues to look around in the woods, but becomes worried after being away from the tribe for too long.

Mao approahces the tree that is shaped like a V. She looks between the tree before noticing a rock in the middle of the tree. She moves the rock over to reveal the Hidden Immunity Idol. Mao grabs the idol and stuffs it into her bra. She jumps up and down before resuming with her walk back to camp.

Later in the day, Destinee, Grant, Kieran, Nick and Seth meet at the waterwell they begin to discuss the game with each other. Seth throws out the idea of the five of them forming an alliance that can control the tribe. Destinee mentions that five is enough to tie the vote, and not majority. Kieran throws out that they can include Mao as the sixth person to vote with them. Seth asks everyone if they are down to create an alliance. Everyone agrees and puts their hands on top of each other before dispersing back to camp.

### Day 5

Before the challenge, Mao gathers the tribe together that as long as they work together that they can beat Sapa. Mao continues to pump everyone up before they head out to the challenge.

At the reward and immunity challenge, the tribes compete in "Coconut Conundrum" where Gubat wins their third challenge in a row. Sapa will attend the second tribal council after their third challenge loss.

Sapa tribe returns to camp after their third loss where morale is at an all time low. The tribe mentions that they did their best in the challenge but Gubat was just slightly better. The tribe faces the truth that they are going to tribal council tonight. Oren takes it upon himself to provide the tribe with wood for the fire and food for the tribe to eat.

While collecting materials for the tribe, Oren and Rashad have a chance to speak with each other. They are able to quick bond over their personal lives where Rashad mentions his family to Oren. Rashad invites Oren to come visit his family after the season ends. Rashad also mentions that Oren reminds him of his son. Oren gracefully accepts the offer from Rashad.

Rashad meets with Rhett where he throws the idea of potentially get rid of Jaiden at tribal council. Rhett doesn't believe that they need to get rid of strong challenge competitiors for this tribe. Rhett throws out the idea of targeting Luz at tribal. Rashad thinks that it's going to come down to whether the tribe values strong players or tribe harmony. Rashad asks Rhett to think it over.

Rhett approaches Jaiden about potentially voting out Luz at the tribe council over someone like Oren. Rhett reasons with Jaiden that they need to focus on tribe strength. Without a doubt, Jaiden agrees with Rhett.

Rashad sits at camp thinking about ways that tribal council could go.

Luz joins Rashad in the shelter. Rashad asks Luz whether she was targeting Jaiden because he's been hearing that she was. A shocked Luz asks Rashad who she heard that from. Rashad tells her that she's heard it from multiple people, but he doesn't feel comfortable sharing any names. Luz says that it's not true and decides to go around the tribe to find out the source of the rumor.

Luz walks up to person after person asking whether she's heard that. Despite multiple people staying out of the drama, Danna, Jaiden and Rhett all tell Luz that Rashad wouldn't make something like that up and feels that the accusations are true.

Paranoid by the rumors floating around camp, Luz approaches Jamir, Jasmin and Oren sitting on the beach. Luz mentions the drama floating around camp and wants the three of them to know she has their back in this game.

Luz throws out the idea to Jamir, Jasmin and Oren that they vote together tonight to keep each other safe. They all agree that they should vote together tonight. Luz asks who does she think they need to vote. Jamir and Oren believe that they should vote out Jaiden if he thinks that Luz is coming after him. Luz agrees with them. Jasmin says that she can potentially pull in Danna and Rashad if they need to. Luz thinks thats a great idea. Jasmin mentions that she wants Erika and Rhett to be at the bottom after tribal council. The four of them agree.

Sapa tribe gathers their torches before heading to Tribal Council.

The Sapa tribe arrive to Tribal Council and start talking about Oren's idol play, Oren claims that he is still a target for the tribe, but he is also a strong player that the tribe does need. As the tribe discusses about the idol play, Jaiden calls out Oren's cockiness after the challenge. Oren defends his behavior as thankfulness for still being here. The tribe further discusses whether the vote is still focused on Jaiden and Oren. Jaiden mentions that he realizes that Oren is someone they need in challenges and there is a large majority of the tribe that want to keep the tribe strong. Luz chimes in and mentions that strong can be different for every person and ultimately whoever leaves is not the strong that this tribe needs. As the voting commences, the tribe decides to vote out Jaiden in a 6-3 vote, leaving Erika and Rhett in the minority.

## Challenges

* Reward (Day 1)
* Immunity (Day 3)
* Reward/Immunity (Day 5)

**Challenge:** *Water Slaughter*
Two members from each tribe would battle for a life ring. The tribe that gets one of their members to have a hand on the ring and one on their scoring pole scores a point. The first tribe that scores three wins the reward.
**Reward:** Flint and 20 pounds of beans.
**Winner:** Gubat

**Challenge:** *Blue Lagoon Bustle*
Tribes start out on the beach, with first 6 players from each tribe running into the ocean, swimming out to a net obstacle, climbing over, go over a barrel roll, swimming to a crate staircase and jumping off, swimming to the tribe boat, diving down and untying a series of knots, paddling back to shore, carrying a chest to the puzzle station. The four players from each tribe then solve their tribe's puzzle in the form of a captain's wheel. The first tribe to extend the flag using the wheel wins.
**Winner:** Gubat

**Challenge:** *Coconut Conundrum*
The tribes would race through an obstacle course of zigzagging pathways, through a web of strung-up coconuts, and over a 10-foot (3.0 m) wall. One tribe member would then dig up a machete. They would use the machete to cut five ropes, which would release a bin of coconuts. Three tribe members would then shoot the coconuts through a hoop into a net. When enough coconuts were shot into the net, the net would raise a flag. The first tribe to raise their flag would win.
**Reward:**Pillows, blankets, a hammock, and a mat!
**Winner:** Gubat

## Tribal Council

### Day 3

 Oren(used Hidden Immunity Idol)
 Dahlia (4 votes)
 VOTED OUT:Dahlia Tovar

### Day 5

 Jaiden (6 votes)
 Luz (3 votes)
 VOTED OUT:Jaiden Cervantes

#### Voting Confessionals

Jaiden and Luz were shown writing each other's names on the parchment. No confessionals aired in this episode.

## Trivia

* The episode's title comes from a line said by Oren Galvan about the game changing after his successful Hidden Immunity Idol play.