An "assessment" doesn't mean "should I take over control or not?"
It can just mean "Does this person need a bit (or a lot) of psychological/emotional support - in addition to an extra pair of hands?"
That is not gender-specific, BTW. Anyone will be shaken by a colleague going into an acute medical emergency an elbow's length away. And not everyone can get their focus back at the same "Captain Ironman" rate. So you check.
As to this thread - keep your eyes on the big picture. Fixating on small details is a BAD habit for pilots - from Eastern 401 on down. I hope the people fixating on this offhand comment or that legalism are the simmers and wannabees - and not the real pilots.
The big picture here was - two individuals were put into a tricky situation. They each did their assessment of the situation, which included assessing their surprise partner (one factor in the situation). Probably faster than it took me to type it.
Decided "You're good. I'm good. Let's get to work." And did.