diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/FileWriter.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/FileWriter.cs
index 039c8f4769..a6e019b9e0 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/FileWriter.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/FileWriter.cs
@@ -167,8 +167,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 			if (_dispoed) return;
 			_dispoed = true;
 
-			_stream!.Flush(flushToDisk: true);
-			_stream.Dispose();
+			_stream!.Dispose();
 			_stream = null;
 
 			// The caller should call CloseAndDispose and handle potential failure.
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/IMainFormForTools.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/IMainFormForTools.cs
index 3a2649872b..1e5268bf1d 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/IMainFormForTools.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/IMainFormForTools.cs
@@ -20,9 +20,6 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 		// TODO: remove? or does anything ever need access to the FirmwareManager
 		FirmwareManager FirmwareManager { get; }
 
-		/// <remarks>only referenced from <see cref="TAStudio"/></remarks>
-		bool GameIsClosing { get; }
-
 		/// <remarks>only referenced from <see cref="PlaybackBox"/></remarks>
 		bool HoldFrameAdvance { get; set; }
 
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
index a0eedda0b9..6972a519c9 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
@@ -885,7 +885,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 					return;
 				}
 			}
-			// zero 03-nov-2015 - close game after other steps. tools might need to unhook themselves from a core.
+
 			CloseGame();
 			SaveConfig();
 		}
@@ -3795,10 +3795,6 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 				loader.OnLoadSettings += CoreSettings;
 				loader.OnLoadSyncSettings += CoreSyncSettings;
 
-				// this also happens in CloseGame(). But it needs to happen here since if we're restarting with the same core,
-				// any settings changes that we made need to make it back to config before we try to instantiate that core with
-				// the new settings objects
-				CommitCoreSettingsToConfig(); // adelikat: I Think by reordering things, this isn't necessary anymore
 				CloseGame();
 
 				var nextComm = CreateCoreComm();
@@ -4085,13 +4081,12 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 			}
 		}
 
-		// whats the difference between these two methods??
-		// its very tricky. rename to be more clear or combine them.
-		// This gets called whenever a core related thing is changed.
-		// Like reboot core.
+		/// <summary>
+		/// This closes the game but does not set things up for using the client with the new null emulator.
+		/// This method should only be called (outside of <see cref="CloseRom(bool)"/>) if the caller is about to load a new game with no user interaction between close and load.
+		/// </summary>
 		private void CloseGame(bool clearSram = false)
 		{
-			GameIsClosing = true;
 			if (clearSram)
 			{
 				var path = Config.PathEntries.SaveRamAbsolutePath(Game, MovieSession.Movie);
@@ -4138,7 +4133,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 			CommitCoreSettingsToConfig();
 			DisableRewind();
 
-			if (MovieSession.Movie.IsActive()) // Note: this must be called after CommitCoreSettingsToConfig()
+			if (MovieSession.Movie.IsActive()) // Note: this must be called after CommitCoreSettingsToConfig() because it checks if we have an active movie.
 			{
 				StopMovie();
 			}
@@ -4152,7 +4147,6 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 			InputManager.SyncControls(Emulator, MovieSession, Config);
 			RewireSound();
 			RebootStatusBarIcon.Visible = false;
-			GameIsClosing = false;
 		}
 
 		private FileWriteResult AutoSaveStateIfConfigured()
@@ -4165,12 +4159,12 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 			return new();
 		}
 
-		public bool GameIsClosing { get; private set; } // Lets tools make better decisions when being called by CloseGame
-
+		/// <summary>
+		/// This closes the current ROM, closes tools that require emulator services, and sets things up for the user to interact with the client having no loaded ROM.
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <param name="clearSram">True if SRAM should be deleted instead of saved.</param>
 		public void CloseRom(bool clearSram = false)
 		{
-			// This gets called after Close Game gets called.
-			// Tested with NESHawk and SMB3 (U)
 			if (Tools.AskSave())
 			{
 				CloseGame(clearSram);
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/TAStudio/TAStudio.IControlMainForm.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/TAStudio/TAStudio.IControlMainForm.cs
index 272afddc2b..d19e0bb1a7 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/TAStudio/TAStudio.IControlMainForm.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/TAStudio/TAStudio.IControlMainForm.cs
@@ -59,13 +59,10 @@
 
 		public void StopMovie(bool suppressSave)
 		{
-			if (!MainForm.GameIsClosing)
-			{
-				Activate();
-				_suppressAskSave = suppressSave;
-				StartNewTasMovie();
-				_suppressAskSave = false;
-			}
+			Activate();
+			_suppressAskSave = suppressSave;
+			StartNewTasMovie();
+			_suppressAskSave = false;
 		}
 
 		public bool WantsToControlRewind { get; private set; } = true;