A Christmas Story Sequel, Unwrapped: Peter Billingsley Reflects On Ralphie's Old Man And Surprise Savior — Watch

Warning: The following reveals what happens in HBO Max's A Christmas Story Christmas. If you haven't watched the sequel, stuff this article in your stocking and return to it later.

Four decades after Ralphie came this close to shooting his eye out with a Red Ryder carbine action, 200-shot range model air rifle, HBO Max has gifted us with a triple-dog dose of yuletide nostalgia. We're referring, of course, to A Christmas Story Christmas, the highly anticipated followup to 1983's A Christmas Story that features nearly all of the original cast.

The streaming sequel — yes, you can only find it on HBO Max (sign up here) — picks up 33 years after the events of the first movie. Peter Billingsley, now 51, reprises his role as Ralphie, husband to Sandy (played by Erinn Hayes) and father to Mark and Julie. Ralphie and Sandy have saved just enough money for Ralphie to take a sabbatical from work and attempt to write the next great American novel. But alas, his efforts fall short and his family falls on hard times, just as the holiday season rears its ugly head.

The night before his parents are expected to arrive in Chicago, Ralphie gets a call that no one ever wants to receive — least of all so close to Christmas: It's his mother (now played by Julie Hagerty, of Airplane! fame), who calls to inform him that his father, aka The Old Man, has died. It's a tragic turn of events that gives the sequel a more somber tone than its predecessor.

Original movie cast, from left to right: Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Ian Petrella, Peter Billingsley (Courtesy of MGM/Everett Collection)

"[With] a lot of sequels, you're trying to find your footing, trying to find your way in," Billingsley, who also has a "Story by" credit on A Christmas Story Christmas, explains to TVLine. "It was important to have an emotional anchor as a way into the movie."

The Old Man's death prompts a return trip to the house on Cleveland Street, where Ralphie tries to lift Mom's spirits and give his kids the Christmas they deserve, all while struggling to find the right words to eulogize Dad in the hometown paper. He sets up shop in the family's dusty attic — where we spot several Easter eggs from the original movie, including the pink bunny suit, the "fra-gee-lay" lampshade and, of course, the Red Ryder BB gun — and eventually, the words pour out of him. The end result is a piece called My Old Man, which later makes the front page of the Hohman Times.

When the Parker family gathers 'round to hear him read his article aloud, we realize that we've heard these words before. However, it's not until original narrator Jean Shepherd takes over for Ralphie that we come to understand that his eulogy is the same story we were told in the first movie. Therefore, A Christmas Story Christmas is not only a sequel, but an origin story. The franchise has come full circle.

"The notion of creating the origin story of A Christmas Story was such a cool idea," Billingsley gushes, as seen in the video above. "In the original, he's older thinking back to when he was a kid — but when did he write that story? 'Oh, he wrote it in A Christmas Story Christmas, when he had to write the obituary for his Old Man.' It's this interesting way to give [the original movie] a purpose." It was an "exciting" idea, he says, that came early in the development of the sequel and served as "a building block" for the rest of the movie.

Shortly after his homecoming, Ralphie reunites with old friends Flick (now owner of the local tavern) and Schwartz (still living with his 'ma and building up a hefty tab at Flick's bar). He also has an unexpected run-in with childhood bully Scut Farkus, who is all grown up and policing the streets of Hohman, Ind. (Say it with me: Oh, fudge!) When Ralphie is caught redhanded with Christmas paraphernalia he stole from Flick's bar, he fully expects Officer Farkus to lock him up and throw away the keys. Instead, Farkus offers him a "Merry Christmas" and a ride home.

Billingsley knows that longtime fans will be anticipating Ralphie and Farkus to "meet again" and tend to "unsettled business," what with Ralphie having pummeled his tormentor last we saw him. But that idea was neither "fun" nor "super original" as far as Billingsley was concerned. Revealing that he'd "turned his life around," making him Ralph's Christmas Eve savior was a way to give Zack Ward's character "great purpose."

What did you think of A Christmas Story Christmas? Grade the sequel below, then drop a comment with your full review.

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