Not so fast. We do not know what exactly PF saw on his panel. Hence we do not know the stimulus response record. If it differed from PNF's screen, he may well have thought the PF's stickwork...odd. We do not know how the a/c was behaving, precisely, especially in relation to the instruments of BOTH pilots.
What we "see" are results derived from inertially driven and recorded data, NOT WHAT THE PILOTS SAW.
I believe the a/c was quite active out of autoflight, and absent decent instrumentation, the Pilots struggled from the beginning, and never caught up.
It is ASSUMED the PNF was the one with the picture, I submit that is not possible to know: it only seems so after the fact, and with data that was unavailable to either of them at the time.
Bottom line: The climb was commanded by the Computer, by definition. Giving the pilot what he asked? It seems that way, but think.......
Only if the pilot KNEW he was climbing does he seem 'incompetent'. If he was reacting to an attitude that did not reflect reality, and his PNF did not notice, he was controlling the a/c, period.
How did the a/c reacquire airdata? Did it? With 40-60 degrees of AoA? Rolling Right/Left through 80 degrees? Attitude from ISIS? Roll cues from ISIS?
Can anyone else put together the degree of UPSET on the way up that may have contributed to PF's falling waaay behind? I think there was plenty, in no way did he start from Straight, Level. And he had to start quickly.