A new hope's final repose

Like all good Messiahs, Mulder died and returned on the third day. From the other realm in which he reposed, he sends Scully a metaphysical text message, claiming they are now bound together "in dangerous purpose". 
Of course, because this is Scully and Mulder, the danger is more real for those unfortunate to be close. Mulder has already lost a sister; in this three-part arc he loses his father and Scully loses her sister. There is always the nagging feeling that Mulder is willing sacrifice others in his pursuit of the 'Truth'. Scully feels the tragedy in a way alien to Mulder.
Mulder is the flawed Messiah, the one who never quite grasps the significance of his own purpose. I've said before that only together do this pair form a whole. This is not accurate. Scully is fully human. Mulder is like Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, he needs constant reminding of the importance of human life. This is why he searches for his truth among mutants, monsters and modern myths. Ordinary humans just don't do it for Mulder.
Even when he encounters a genuine psychic in Clyde Bruckman, he loses patience because he isn't getting what he wants. He becomes convinced of Clyde Bruckman's one ability, but is dissatisfied because "he can't provide any practical information on our case."
Mulder claims to be searching for a truth the authorities are unwilling to admit, he is constantly frustrated at never having any proof, he'll stand before his superiors at the F.B.I. and spout his 'spooky' theories, knowing the ridicule he faces, yet becomes frustrated because Bruckman can't give him what he wants!
Clyde Bruckman commits suicide because the one man who should understand him, offer succour, make his life meaningful, lets him down. The flawed Messiah cannot save.
It is Scully who shows herself the whole person who is able to relate to people despite her not entirely developed belief in their human strangeness. She it is who sits with Bruckman after his death, showing her empathy for another human being.
I've always wondered at David Duchovny's inability to cry. Watch him in any scene where any normal person would be in tears and you'll see he has the look but not the tears. (It was this small detail that made me realize that Gillian Anderson is a much better actor than Duchovny. Not that he's a bad actor. Of course he isn't. She is just so much better.) Then I realized, Mulder doesn't cry because he doesn't have it in him to really feel the misery of others. He cannot cry for himself, instead he hunts down monsters, so he cannot cry for others. They are tokens that fall into two categories: those who can provide 'practical information' and those who can't. Why doesn't he kill the Cigarette Smoking Man in 'One Breath'? He wants to. But he knows that this is a source of information beyond Deep Throat and X. He's not ready to lose what the CSM may provide in the future.
The tragedy of 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose' is that Mulder isn't a saving Messiah. He's a crusading Messiah - and we all know how the Crusades ended, don't we?

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