It Is What It Is

IT IS WHAT IT IS Synopsis Robine Productions Set in Atlanta, Georgia, It Is What It Is is a romantic drama that follows the intertwining lives of a group of young men and women as they pursue their dreams: love, careers, and “happily ever after.” Lovely, a 29-year-old car saleswoman, still emotionally entangled with her former fiancé, Jay, is about to celebrate her four-year anniversary with her “new” boyfriend, Ismail. She is ready to settle down, ready to have kids, but when Ismail looks into his future, he doesn’t see her in it. Lovely refuses to abandon her dreams, however, so when Ismail comes back suggesting a friends-with-benefits arrangement, she agrees. It’s the quickest way to get pregnant. The only problem is, she has to hide her plans from her best friend Zhera, who is also Ismail’s sister. Lovely’s career makes a huge leap when her colleague, Thomas, suggests they go in together to buy the dealership when the current owner retires. And when her relationship with Thomas begins to progress from professional to personal, Lovely cuts all ties with Ismail. Lovely learns that her plan worked, however, and she is now pregnant, but she can’t admit the truth to Zhera and pretends the baby is Thomas’. Thomas overhears her confession and demands to be a part of the pregnancy and his future child’s life. Lovely is terrified to come clean, and gets tangled deeper and deeper in her own lies. At the rehearsal dinner for Zhera’s wedding, Zhera and Ismail finally realize the stories Lovely has been feeding them don’t match. Zhera discovers the truth and shares it with Ismail, who turns up drunk at Lovely’s home to serve her with the court order for a DNA test. Thomas arrives, and the situation rapidly escalates into a fight. Ismail draws a knife, Thomas draws a gun. The police arrive before anyone is killed, and both men are arrested. But the damage is done. Zhera ends her friendship with Lovely. Thomas dissolves their business partnership and wants nothing to do with her ever again. But Lovely’s new friends Yasmine and Toonday are there to support her, and she is determined to raise her son, Jay Jr., on her own. Yasmine is a young mother of two sons, Owen and Randall, struggling to make ends meet. Owen’s father, Nick, is a deadbeat who has no interest in seeing or supporting his child. Randall’s father, Randy, is the exact opposite – he wants full custody of his son and takes Yasmine to court to get it. Desperate for a car that will get her to work on time, Yasmine visits the dealership, where Lovely arranges to sell Yasmine her own car at a price she can afford. This help arrives too late, however, and Yasmine is fired from her waitress job for being late one too many times. She is forced to move back in with her mother, who constantly puts her down for her choices and for not being a brilliant doctor like her brother, Almin. Yasmine struggles to find a new job, so Lovely encourages her to start her own business instead. Yasmine loves to cook, and decides to start a catering company. She meets a wonderful man, Cameron, who understands the situation with her kids – he has a daughter himself – but when her mother finds out Yasmine has a new boyfriend, she throws her out of the house. The deteriorating situation with Nick forces Yasmine to recognize just how unstable her home life really is. She wins the custody battle, but asks the court to reverse it to give Randall a better life. Impressed by Yasmine’s new maturity, Randy suggests they get back together – something Yasmine has always dreamed of. She is tempted, but finally realizes that she has grown beyond that old dream, and that she loves Cameron. Toonday, a young man in college, is desperate to find a woman to share his life with. He strikes out at the club when the women there are put off by his disability – he is partially paralyzed after a childhood stroke. He tries internet dating, but those relationships fall apart as soon as Toonday meets the women in person. He even tries asking Lovely out, convinced she was flirting with him when she sold him his car, but after a very nice date, she turns him down as well. Frustrated, he creates a whole new dating profile, using a picture of his roommate, Hunter, and the name “Chad.” This profile quickly attracts the attention of Alie, a girl who turned Toonday down once before because of his disability. He is thrilled with their growing internet relationship, but the charade inevitably falls apart and destroys Hunter’s relationship in the process. When Toonday tries to apologize to Alie, she doesn’t recognize him as “Chad” and apologizes to him for the way she treated him when they first met. This time she gives him her number. Toonday finally has what he always wanted – a girlfriend. But somehow it doesn’t feel the way he expected it would. And his friendship with Hunter is all but destroyed. Toonday arranges a birthday bash for Hunter at the club where they usually hang out, inviting everyone: Alie, Hunter’s ex-girlfriend, and new friends Yasmine and Lovely. Toonday tells Alie the truth in front of everyone, and she announces she can’t forgive him. Hunter’s ex-girlfriend offers to get back together with him, but since the breakup, Hunter has fallen in love with his new girlfriend Jennifer, and proposes to her that very night. Toonday finally realizes that he can’t expect another person to fulfill him; he has to do that himself, with the support of his friends.