Severance leads 2025 Emmy nomination pack: Where it triumphed and where it fell short

Time of India

4 days ago

Severance is back at the front of the pack. This year, it's bagged 27 Emmy nominations, more than any other show. Not bad for a series about corporate drones who've had their minds split in two so they can't remember what they do all day.
The show's main hook is as bleak as it is brilliant. Lumon Industries, a shadowy biotech giant, has perfected a procedure that divides its workers into 'innies' and 'outies'. At work, you don't remember home. At home, you have no clue what you've done all day. The lines between free will and control, identity and obedience, blur fast.
Britt Lower is up for lead actress for her turn as Helly R., whose rebellious streak inside Lumon's sterile corridors sets the second season's engine roaring. She's up against heavyweights like Kathy Bates for Matlock and Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us, but Lower's character arc is the show's pulse.
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Adam Scott lands another nomination as Mark S., the grieving widower who clings to the severance procedure like a life raft. This is his second time in this category for Severance, and he's joined by co-stars Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, Zach Cherry and Patricia Arquette in the supporting slots. Together they turn Lumon's basement offices into one of the strangest, saddest places on TV.
Severance at the 2025 Emmys: Where it scored and where it fell short
Best Drama Series
No shock. Severance has topped Emmy odds all year.
Live Events
Real question: can it beat Andor, The Diplomat, The Last of Us, Paradise, The Pitt, Slow Horses and The White Lotus?
Best Actor
Adam Scott makes it two for two.
His Mark vs Mark face-off keeps him a frontrunner, with Noah Wyle (The Pitt) right there too.
Best Actress
Britt Lower's switch from Helly to Helena landed her first nod.
Big names in the race: Kathy Bates, Bella Ramsey, Keri Russell.
Best Supporting Actor (3)
Turturro's back. Tillman and Cherry get their first.
Walken missed out — screen time dipped.
Tillman or Cherry could be first Black winner here.
Best Supporting Actress
Arquette's in again as Cobel.
Lachman (Gemma) was edged out by Coon, Posey, Rothwell, Lou Wood, LaNasa and Nicholson.
Best Guest Actor
No luck for Robby Benson, John Noble or Michael Siberry.
Best Guest Actress
Christie, Wever and Alexander made the list.
Sydney Cole Alexander didn't.
Best Writing
Erickson's 'Cold Harbor' finale: Mark vs Mark, Milchick's dance, the brutal triangle blow-up.
Best Directing (2)
Stiller for 'Cold Harbor'.
Gagné for her debut, 'Chikhai Bardo'.
Crafts (14)
Back for casting, titles, score, editing (3) and production design.
Added cinematography, music supervision, sound, stunts, VFX, choreography (Milchick's band).
Missed costumes, hair, makeup.
The competition: Birds, resorts and broken teens
While Severance sits pretty at the top, it's got strong rivals. HBO's The Penguin is the year's biggest limited series contender with 24 nominations. Colin Farrell, unrecognisable as Oz Cobb, earned a nod for lead actor, while Cristin Milioti got one for lead actress. The series follows up on The Batman film, zeroing in on Gotham's underworld.
The White Lotus, now firmly in the drama camp, matched The Studio with 23 nods. Its third season dragged its privileged guests to Koh Samui, Thailand. Dark secrets, moral rot and ocean views—business as usual for Mike White's vicious satire. Supporting nods went to a cluster of its ensemble cast, including Walton Goggins and Parker Posey.
Over on Netflix, Adolescence proved a surprise hit. Stephen Graham co-created and starred in this raw look at a 13-year-old accused of murder. Graham called young lead Owen Cooper's debut 'an astonishing debut', telling The Envelope, 'I can't find enough superlatives to describe the boy.' Cooper, just 15, could join the tiny club of teenagers to ever win an Emmy.
Old hands, new highs
This year also gave us a couple of firsts. Harrison Ford, at 83, bagged his first career Emmy nomination for Shrinking, a bittersweet comedy where he plays a sardonic therapist. Meanwhile, RuPaul broke his own record, becoming the most nominated reality host in Emmys history for RuPaul's Drag Race.
And yes, the usual heavy hitters turned up. The Bear roared back with Jeremy Allen White leading the comedy actor pack. Quinta Brunson returned for Abbott Elementary, continuing her roll as both star and creator.
It's easy to see why Severance keeps pulling in nominations. It's not just dystopian window dressing. It holds up a warped mirror to office culture, asking what we trade away every time we clock in. In an era when work and life bleed into each other through screens and endless pings, the show's core question lands hard: if you could cut work out of your mind entirely, would you? And what would you lose in the process?
Behind the glossy Apple TV+ sheen is a series that refuses to let you forget who's really in control. It's sharp, unsettling, and still weirdly funny. No other show this year stitches existential dread to fluorescent office lights quite like it.
Come 14 September in Los Angeles, we'll see if it can convert those 27 nods into trophies. No matter what, Severance has already done what the best television does: it made us look at our own lives and ask if we're really awake.