She joins the organisation shortly after it begins operations, having inadvertently become involved in its first mission when the maiden flight of Fireflash, in which she is travelling from London to Tokyo, is sabotaged by her villainous half-uncle The Hood ("Trapped in the Sky").

Jack Hagerty and Jon C. Rogers believe that prior to her major role in Thunderbird 6, and despite her status as a series regular, the character was "usually nothing more than window dressing, with her actual contributions being a bit vague".

[10] John Peel offers a similar assessment, criticising the character's appearance in the first episode, "Trapped in the Sky" ("a helpless-female-to-be-rescued role"), but praising her contributions in "Sun Probe" and "The Cham-Cham" (stating that in the latter she "really comes into her own", emerging as Penelope's "sidekick").

[15] Glenn Erickson of DVD Talk presents an opposing view, arguing that while Thunderbirds often resorted to stereotypes, it employed them "with some sensitivity – all except for Tin-Tin", whom he negatively characterises as a "literal China doll".

[16] Kate Hunt of the University of Glasgow, who studied the series' presentation of tobacco smoking, note that unlike prolific smokers such as Penelope, Tin-Tin was seen "incongruously" and "inconsistently" with a cigarette in just one episode ("End of the Road").

She also writes that the character fills a socially ambiguous position on Tracy Island, appearing variously as an "adopted daughter, secretary, and occasional member of the International Rescue team".

DVD Verdict's Dennis Prince comments that the reimagined younger Tin-Tin is "full of spunk and plenty of girl power attitude (which never becomes truly obnoxious, mind you)", and a "rather thinly stretched adaptation" of the original.

[19] Alex Hewison, commenting for the same website, is dismissive, judging the character a victim of gender tokenism and "superfluity" as regards her "hyper-chaste love subplot" with Alan (Brady Corbet).

[20] Erickson writes positively of the decision to have Tin-Tin inherit The Hood's "inscrutable Oriental wizardry", use of which is indicated on-screen by her eyes becoming "cat-like, vertical slits – a nice touch".

[18][22] For the remake series, Thunderbirds Are Go, Tin-Tin was renamed Tanusha "Kayo" Kyrano due to potential copyright issues in respect of the Hergé comic book character Tintin.

[24] Commenting that the remake brings Tin-Tin "up to date", Carolyn Percy of Wales Arts Review praises how Kayo's character development is no longer devoted entirely to "potential love interests".

Jon Abbott of TV Zone magazine describes the original Kyrano as a "fawning manservant" who is patronisingly treated by Jeff, arguing that the character represents a negative stereotype.

[25] Marcus Hearn finds Kyrano a "poorly sketched character", calling his secret ties to The Hood "another of Thunderbirds' weak links" and stating that the series reveals almost nothing of his and Tin-Tin's backstory.