Does this Emmys rule explain Australian star Dichen Lachman's Severance snub?

Many of her co-stars were nominated, with Adam Scott nabbing a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor, Britt Lower for Outstanding Lead Actress, along with acting nominations for Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, Patricia Arquette, Jane Alexander, Gwendoline Christie and Merritt Wever.

As expected, social media blew up with fans complaining about Dichen being overlooked. “How the f**k are you going to nominate this show 27 times and not give anything to Dichen Lachman,” one person tweeted.

“I’m sorry but Dichen Lachman deserved better. Her scenes in Season 2 were beyond heartbreaking and beautifully acted,” another added.

“Dichen Lachman had one episode to give Gemma backstory and make the audience meet, emotionally connect to, and understand Gemma and she delivered. You are an Emmy nom to me!” a third declared.

Was Dichen Lachman eligible for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series?

However, there may be a loophole in the Television Academy rules that disqualified Dichen Lachman from being put forward as an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. According to the rules, performers can only be nominated in this category if they appear “in less than 50 per cent of the eligible drama series episodes.”

As fans of Severance know, Dichen appeared in seven out of 10 episodes in Season 2, which is more than 50 per cent. Even though many of her early appearances were just a quick flash of her face in frame, she still technically appeared in the episodes.

So while Dichen really displayed her acting chops in two episodes, it’s possible she was only able to be submitted for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

“The problem here is that Dichen Lachman in Severance Season 2 was a textbook guest performance but they disqualified her from that category by showing her face for ~1 frame in every episode,” a fan theorised online. “This is an indictment of the Emmys’ category rules, not the Severance creative team wanting to show the most lethal face on TV whenever possible.

“In a just world, she would’ve been nominated for supporting [actress] anyway, because she, along with Tillman and Turturro, gave the best performances of the season by a mile in my opinion, but it’s kind of hard to expect that when she was really only in two episodes.”

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that our Aussie star will get her flowers for Season 3 of Severance. We’re likely to see much more of her character, Gemma, as she fights to rescue Mark.