Is there any hope for this dendrobium?
 

I offered to take my friend's dying dendro to see what I can do for it, but I'm not sure what that is.

My modus operandi is to first repot, but I'm afraid that will shock the plant of it's final bit of life. There is however, what appears to be a small growth coming out of the larger cane. What would you recommend I do with this? Is it doomed or is recovery possible? Thanks.

Looks like there might be hope. Are roots or moss on the top of the pot?

There's decorative green moss at the top of the pot. There appear to be roots in the pot (alive? dead?) in a mix of fine bark (at least I hope it's not soil) and perlite. It's bone dry. I'm thinking right now I'll first cut off the dried flower stalk and give it a good watering.

It might be worth your time to gently inspect the state of the potting soil. If it's really compact/decomposed, it would definitely need to be repotted. I would soak it and gently tease off the media, should that be required.

There is definitely a sign of live in the second photo.
Don't give up. :)