Hi DozyWannabe,
The computer is there to help, not to hinder.....
It's been pointed out more than once that the PF was a sailplane pilot, and as such should have been more likely to understand the basics of aerodynamics than many.
The elevator basically follows the sidestick inputs up to 02:10:45 with deviations mostly around zero - which is what a sailplane pilot would expect. Thereafter, the FBW computers are attempting to maintain the pitch attitude requested by pf, despite the speed fall off and well beyond Alpha Max, by applying stab trim and lots of up elevator.
At 02:12:15 down ss has no effect - full up elevator is still applied.
After 02:12:30, despite nose down inputs, the elevator never reduces beyond -15 degs and for the most of the time, both elevator and stab trim are fully saturated at full nose up.
Since the crew were never aware of their control surfaces' positions (unlike a sailplane) - I'm not surprised that pf thought he had no control - because (fortunately) he could not pull back any harder even when he tried.