Malcolm played it perfectly. Survivor Rules stipulate that any Immunity Idol must be played before the Votes are read. In the event of a Tie, there is no provision permitting any Contestant to then play an Immunity Idol that was not played prior to the initial Vote. Hence, Eddie would have been sent packing, Phillip still in the game, and Reynold & Malcolm in a precarious situation. By waiting to the last second and announcing that they were Tagging Phillip, it gave Phillip no opportunity to cook up a contingency plan to take out somebody like Sherri or Dawn. In short, it was masterful & brilliant, putting them in control. Malcolm cut the head off the snake leaving the Alliance in total disarray. The core Three (3) Alliance (Malcolm, Reynold & Eddie) do not really need an Immunity Idol as they are likely to pick up Eric & Sherri. Besides, Malcolm & Reynold are the most likely to win any Immunity Challenge and are also most likely to find any other Hidden Immunity Idol.
It was delightful. As for the 'Malcolm & Eddie' show, it apparently did exist and apparently ran from 1996 to 2000 (did not even know it existed). If it was a bad TV Show, apparently lots watched it for several years.