My original point was that Malcolm saw an opportunity to conceal the fact that he has an idol by convincing Reynold to give him his idol, and that was brilliant. And it worked.Reynold's idol at that point was going to be played anyway, he got Reynold to give it to him. Malcolm's idol is now his secret weapon.
He put it together during Tribal that things weren't going as planned, as evidenced by his conforming to the split vote scheme with his vote.
Even when things aren't going as planned he has his head n the game.
Going forward now, yeah, he has to scramble. Classic Survivor.
If you are in the position of having everyone vote against you but you can play an idol and boot whomever you want, what's the best play? Knock out the glue of the controlling alliance.