Her casting has received widespread praise and media attention, crediting ABC for bringing more diversity to a mainstream American series on a big network.

The series focuses on her struggle to keep her country safe, while juggling her career and maintaining her on and off relationship with boyfriend Ryan Booth and her friendship with her best friend Shelby Wyatt.

Originally conceived as a white character, Alex's characterization changed significantly following Chopra's casting, which came as a result of a talent holding deal ABC Studios had with the actress.

At the academy, Alex befriends her fellow New Agent Trainees (NATs), particularly her roommate, Shelby Wyatt (Johanna Braddy), Nimah and Raina Amin (Yasmine Al Massri), Simon Asher (Tate Ellington), Eric Packer (Brian J. Smith), Brandon Fletcher (Jacob Artist), Elias Harper (Rick Cosnett), and Caleb Haas (Graham Rogers).

After successfully completing their training at Quantico, Alex and her remaining classmates (Shelby, Raina, Nimah, Caleb, Brandon, and Iris) graduate from the academy with offers to work in field offices across the nation.

About a year after her arrival at Quantico and several months after the successful completion of her training, Alex is living in New York City and is preparing to work the security detail for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

Alex's initial escape is orchestrated by Deputy Director Miranda Shaw (Aunjanue Ellis), her primary instructor at Quantico, who refuses to believe that she is responsible.

Alex is able to prove her innocence in the Grand Central Terminal bombing case with the help of her classmates at Quantico as well as from the rogue hacking group dubbed "The Unknown".

Later, it is revealed that the suspected bomber was former FBI analyst-trainee Elias Harper (Rick Cosnett), who had planted the bomb under the instruction of a terrorist mastermind.

Having cleared her name in a congressional hearing, Alex is reinstated as an FBI agent and assigned to the field office in New York City, specifically the operations section, and now strives to uncover the true mastermind behind the bombings as the 2016 Presidential election draws ever closer.

Two months after the presidential election, Alex is approached by Matthew Keyes (Henry Czerny), the director of the CIA, who extends an offer for her to join and work for the organization.

In the second season, Parrish, who appears to have been fired from the FBI, is working a desk job as an analyst at the CIA while living with Shelby and continuing her relationship with Ryan, who later becomes her fiancé.

Prior to escaping the financial district area, she manages to expose the conspirators within the FBI and CIA that are deeply connected to the Citizens Liberation Front as well as the AIC.

Following the publicized accounts of the task force in the broadcast media, the Speaker of the House, Henry Roarke (Dennis Boutsikaris) takes the opportunity to criticize Claire's presidency and calls for her impeachment.

At the convention in Philadelphia, Alex publicly broadcasts Roarke's recordings with the Federal Security Service and emails the evidence to the ACLU and other rights organizations, before having Miranda fake her death by shooting her at the event.

Sitting together in a car, Owen mentions to Alex that she needs to maintain her cover so as to evade capture from domestic and international law enforcement agencies as a result of being issued an Interpol Red Notice for her arrest.

Soon afterwards, Owen with the help of Alex and Ryan, successfully recruits Harry Doyle and Jocelyn Turner (Marlee Matlin) to the team, in order to rescue Shelby and take down The Widow.

After traveling back to the United States, Alex tries to prioritize the welfare of her romantic partner Andrea along with his daughter Isabella, over the course of the third, and final season.

During another mission, Alex attends an AA meeting, to investigate a middleman connected to Garrett King, a persona non-grata to the U.S., who is planning on an assassination attempt of a North Korean defector with good intel that could prove useful for the U.S. government.

She later uncovers the fact that David Quintana, her AA sponsor, works under Garrett, and discovers that he received orders to assassinate the defector Jun Ho Park.

In her most recent mission, Alex tries to locate Andrea and Isabella, who were taken by Conor Devlin (Timothy V. Murphy), an Irish criminal going after Ryan, who killed his son.

[5] However, when Chopra was first considering the possibility of doing a television series in America, Lee learned that another studio was also trying to sign her, to which she reacted by saying, "No, you can't make this deal elsewhere.

[21] He said "So for Alex and Shelby, you know, as roommates and as friends, we just really loved the idea of these two people from two different parts of the world, all these things that don't touch upon each other, but they actually at their core are both very driven, successful, smart, and kind humans that find each other.

[22] Talking about losing a friend and its repercussions on the Season 2, Chopra explained: "She's extremely affected [but] doesn't believe in sharing her emotions or opening up with someone.

[23] When Alex confesses that her only motive to join the academy was to find out the truth about her father and was about to leave, Ryan makes her realize that she is meant to be an agent.

[24] James Poniewozik of The New York Times described Chopra as the "strongest human asset" of the show, adding that "she is immediately charismatic and commanding.

Rob Lowman of Los Angeles Daily News was impressed with Chopra's performance, calling her "charismatic" and writing, "I was immediately struck by her dynamic screen presence.

"[30] She also noted the fact that Alex takes control of her sexuality and decisions, saying, "What was set up as an uncomfortable situation where Booth was in charge, swiveled into a scenario that gave Parish the reins.

"[30] TheWrap's Tim Grierson wrote, "Chopra has a poise and sexual spark as Alex that suggests a formidable potential FBI agent whose mind and beauty are equally stunning.

"[31] In 2015 BuddyTV ranked Alex Parrish number one on the list of "12 Breakout Characters of the Fall 2015 TV Season", writing, "Chopra shines in her starring role.