Pence didn't have to go along. He knew the election results were already cast in stone. At that point, whether he is a "good" guy or a "bad" guy, his best move for his own self interest is to seem not to be all in, perhaps to seriously believe he has to accept the electors, to understand that 25th amendment wouldn't fly (another foregone conclusion, because by then only the loyalists were left in the cabinet). Thus he makes a seemingly sympathetic move.